Chasing the Forbidden
by Spideria
Summary: AU Draco Malfoy is Harry Potter's new, young, and sexy Literature teacher at Malkin High. What happens when sexual tension between the two arise? Could Harry really have a crush on his teacher, and a man, at that? Read and Review! Complete
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Now pay attention, because I will not repeat this again in any of the following chapters. Once is enough. I do not own any of the characters of this story. There is some OOC-ness and there is slash, which means male/male action. If you don't like, don't read.

This is Draco/Harry. I realize that the beginning of this chapter seems as though it's not all about Harry and Draco, but believe me, it is. I just figured that every story starts completely about their main character, and I wanted to be a bit different in this story.

Also, the ending to my last story wasn't the best, but oh well. I apologize about that. I was feeling bored and lazy that day so I just posted it to get it over with because it had been a month and all I need was that last chapter. Once again, my sincerest apologies. I'll try not to make that happen again.

I'd like to dedicate this story to Gabrielle Malfoy Potter. She rocks. She totally gave me the idea for this story. So snaps for Gabby. snap, snap, snap

Now, on with the story.

Title: Chasing the Forbidden

Chapter 1:

_So Not Fair _

"**_S_**exy rack alert! Sexy rack alert!" Harry whispered urgently to his best friend, Ron, from where he sat, cross legged, propped against a maple tree.

"Where?! Where?!" asked Ron, scanning Malkin High's school property fervently.

"You know, you shouldn't even be doing this, Ron." stated Neville, a portly boy who was easily intimidated. "You've got a girlfriend."

"Neville's right, you know." Added Seamus, looking for a girl to drool over like the hormone-driven dog that he was.

"I agree," Dean added, not really paying attention, but just saying it to agree with Seamus, as he always did.

"Hey, stop ganging up on me!" Ron whined, still searching for the girl which Harry had previously mentioned. "Ugh, forget it! I can't find her! I'll just look for someone else," Ron grumbled.

Harry laughed at his best friend's addictive need to goggle over teenage girls' well-framed bodies. It was even more intense than Harry's own obsession over girls. Of course, Harry enjoyed watching girls as well, but at least he didn't have a girlfriend; Ron did. It wasn't wrong for Harry to stare at girls wantonly.

However, as much as he new that it was wrong for Ron to stare at other girls while currently involved in a relationship, he couldn't help but take pleasure in the moments where Ron got into trouble for not holding any control over his hormones, which, Harry could tell, was about to happen.

Ron found the perfect girl to stare at, as she started slowly walking past them. Perfect girl in the sense of her figure, but not in who the person actually was: Lavender, Ron's ex-girlfriend.

Being the troublemaker she was, she stopped to let Ron get a better view of her, and smiled sinisterly, which only served in making Ron stare even more.

"That is one sexy ass," Ron muttered to himself, not knowing that his girlfriend, a bushy-haired girl named Hermione, had walked up right behind him. She glared, before doing what she always did to her boyfriend whenever she thought he was behaving like a moronic ass hole, which, by the way, was just about every minute of the day.

"Ow! Damn it, woman! What the bloody hell was that for?!" Ron asked as he rubbed the sore spot on his head, where Hermione had hit him, and quite painfully, at that.

"For being a complete arse." Hermione stated, matter-of-factly.

Harry simply chuckled to himself as he watched the scene play out. He was used to this sort of thing by now, and he knew exactly what was going to happen next.

"Aw... don't get jealous, Hermione. You can't blame a guy for knowing when he sees something worth his while. I mean, it's not like he gets to see it every day, being as he has you for a girlfriend." said Lavender, whose "sexy ass" had been the magnet to attract Ron's eyes just moments before.

"Oh yeah?! Then why did he leave you for me, you idiotic whore! Honestly, you're a fuc-"

"Okay, I think that's enough for today," Harry interrupted, standing up and quickly brushing off some grass from his jeans. "Erm ... Hermione, why don't we go for a walk over there and look at the pretty flowers?" Harry asked, in a pitiful attempt to avoid what could easily become the "cat fight" of the century.

"Ooh! She makes me so mad!" Hermione said angrily, once she thought they had walked far enough so that they couldn't be heard by the others.

"I know, I know. But you can't just-"

"Oh my God," Hermione said, breathlessly.

"What?" Harry asked, too curious to care that Hermione had just ignored what he'd been saying.

"Over there," Hermione whispered, as if someone where trying to listen over their shoulders.

Harry followed Hermione's gaze to find a young man with platinum blond hair. Although Harry was a guy, he could tell that this man was attractive.

"Who is he?" Harry asked aloud.

"He's the most gorgeous man I've ever seen, that's who," Hermione sighed, with a dreamy look on her face.

"You do realize, of course, that you have a boyfriend, don't you?" Harry asked with a cheeky smirk.

"Boyfriend? What boyfriend?" She answered, with a sneer.

Obviously, Hermione was still mad at Ron.

Harry simply shook his head with a smile, and went back to studying the blonde young man, who currently stood at the school entrance, speaking to the principle, Mr. Dumbledore.

His hair was neatly gelled back, reaching the nape of his neck. He stood tall at a height of about 6' 2" from Harry's estimation. He didn't wear a full suit, as most boring teachers at Malkin High so often did, but instead, a neatly pressed collared-shirt, blue button-up with fitted, beige slacks. He was definitely young; perhaps just out of college.

'But could he really be a teacher?' Harry thought to himself. He didn't remember any teachers retiring or getting fired. A student...?

"Do you think he's a new student?"

"No way! He's much too old!" Hermione exclaimed. "He must be at least in his early twenties."

"But none of the teachers have retired or anything..."

"Maybe not, but how could you possibly explain him being a student at the age he must be?" Hermione asked, preparing herself for whatever stupid answer Harry was able to come up with. She needed a good laugh, anyway, after her little mishap with Ron.

"Maybe he got left back one too many times," Harry tried, dumbly.

Hermione simply rolled her eyes. She couldn't very well get angry with Harry. She had, after all, walked herself straight into that one.

They continued to stare at the blonde-haired young man curiously, until, suddenly, his head turned in the direction of the two, causing a half surprised, half frightened gasp to escape from the two.

The man gave a seductive smile, before turning his attention back to their principle.

"Oh my God! He totally smiled at me! Did you see it, Harry?!" Hermione exclaimed, excitedly.

"Yeah..." Harry answered, slowly. He could have sworn the man had been staring directly at him. He quickly shrugged off the idea. There was absolutely no reason for why the man would have been staring at him, anyway.

"Look," Hermione said, shaking Harry's shoulder. "They stopped talking." And indeed, they had.

Mr. Dumbledore was walking away, leaving the young blonde alone. The man's gaze quickly returned to his previous target of interest. As his eyes locked with Harry's, he began to walk toward the two students with that same, seductive smile on his face.

Harry, who was beginning to panic, quickly tore his eyes away from the other man. He didn't know why, but he was really beginning to feel an odd tingle fluttering in his stomach, and quickly floating up toward his chest. But Harry couldn't just leave Hermione without any excuse.

Fortunately, though, at that very moment, the school bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, and allowing Harry to quickly escape to class, dragging Hermione with him.

**_ H_**arry was glad to be walking down the school halls, and away from that man- not that it was much better. Harry wasn't daydreaming about the man or anything, that would just be silly. However, he had a fluttery feeling following him around, and every time he tried to figure out the cause for this feeling, he would remember the man.

Like now, for instance. Harry quickly, and quite literally, shook his head hazardously, trying to take his mind off the feeling once again.

"Hey, there. Are you alright?" Came an amused voice from somewhere off to Harry's right.

Harry quickly looked up to see the person who had caught him in such an embarrassing act, only to wish he hadn't. It was Him.

"Erm...yes, I'm fine. I've got to get to class." Harry muttered in a rush, as he dashed passed the man.

...Gray. That was the color of the man's eyes. Harry hadn't gotten a good look when they'd been outside, but just now, he'd seen them. A shade of gray he'd never seen before. They were...nice.

Harry made a disgusted look as he continued walking to his next class. Nice? What was that all about. He didn't think his own, forest green eyes were nice, and now he was admiring some stranger's eyes? Wait-admiring? No, no. More like...just observing.

Yes, yes. He wasn't necessarily saying that the man's eyes were nice and crooning over the idea, simply stating an objective fact. 'Yes, that's all.' He thought to himself. Harry gave himself a reassuring nod, as he entered his classroom: literature.

Harry couldn't help the smile that crawled its way across Harry's lips. Literature was, after all, his favorite subject. He didn't particularly like the teacher who taught it, Ms. Kramer, however. She was a stingy old woman who always reminded him, slightly, of a vampire caught in the middle of transforming into a bat. She had an evil cackle she liked to practice on students who forgot to do their assignments as often as she could, and she scrutinized every little thing anyone did- no wonder she wasn't married.

"Harry, over here." Called Ron, from a seat to the left of the classroom, and in the first row.

"Ron, why do you always get seats in the front of the class? You know I don't like Ms. Kramer." Harry asked sullenly, as he reluctantly forced himself to sit in the seat next to his best friend.

"Because, Harry, mate, this side of the room has the best window view." Ron answered, slyly.

Harry raised a questioning eye brow, and looked out the window to see the supposed "wonderful view" for himself. He slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead; he should have known. Living in the sunny area that they did, students were occasionally allowed to have gym outside, on the Malkin High grounds.

Just a few yards away from the window, there were several girls stretching in ways that showed off some particularly... appealing body parts. Harry gave Ron a look that simply said, 'You've _got_ to be kidding me.'

Ron simply gave an innocent smile- or at least, as innocent as it could be, cast across Ron's lips.

Hermione walked into the room just then, and stiffly took a seat on the right of Harry, making sure to make it perfectly clear to Ron that she was still angry with him. However, being as used to this treatment as he was, Ron simply rolled his eyes and went back to staring at the girls outside, which earned him a very annoyed "Humph," from Hermione.

"He is such an arse," Hermione whispered to Harry.

"I know, Hermione. I know."

"Hey!" Ron exclaimed indignantly.

"Sorry, mate. But quite frankly, I'm more scared of her, than I am of you."

After a moment of consideration, Ron answered with a nonchalant, "Understandable."

While Ron continued to gaze out, beyond the window, Hermione and Harry immersed themselves into a discussion of a book Harry had just recently read, to which held a quote that Harry didn't quite understand the meaning of. Just as Harry was beginning to truly understand Hermione's explanation of the quote's meaning, they were interrupted by a sound coming from the door.

"Ahem."

All the students quickly turned their heads toward Mr. Dumbledore, knowing that he wanted their attention. Mr. Dumbledore smiled at Harry, one of his favorite pupils, just before he began speaking aloud.

"Now, class, I know you all love your literature teacher, Ms. Kramer, dearly..."

A few students shifted in their seats at that comment, knowing fully well that, that was most definitely _not_ what they thought about Ms. Kramer.

Mr. Dumbledore continued, oblivious to the reaction of the students. "However, it turns out that her daughter has just had a child, and would like for her mother, Ms. Kramer, to come and stay with her for a few months. It's her first child, don't you know?" The principle asked rhetorically, with a smile.

"So...?" Ron asked, not understanding the point of that entire speech.

"So...we have, of course, allowed Ms. Kramer to leave us for the rest of the year, as it is already March, and you will now have a substitute in her place." Mr. Dumbledore answered.

A rush of curious whispers washed over the classroom.

"Who do you think it could be?"

"Oh, no. Substitutes are always worse than the teachers! I don't know if I can stand anything worse than Ms. Kramer!"

"Do you think it could be one of her relatives?"

"Jeez, I'd like to take a bloody break for four months..."

"Hush now, class." The principle commanded.

"But, Principle Dumbledore, if we are to have a substitute, where is she?" A girl from the back of the room inquired, curiously.

"Actually, _he_ is supposed to be here now. However, it is his first day in this school, so I suppose he must have gotten lost. Ah, which reminds me. He is new to this school, and I would like you to all make him feel welcome. Yes, he is a teacher, but he still needs time to adapt to this new environment, just as you did, your first year here at Malkin High. This is his first job as a teacher, and I would hate for his first impression of this profession to be a bad one. Understood?"

"Yeeees..." the students all mumbled out monotonously.

"Good. Now- ah, here you are, Mr. Malfoy." The old man stated with a friendly smile, as a slightly ruffled blond man entered the room. "I was wondering where you had gone."

"My deepest apologies, Albus. I suppose this school really is much bigger than I first suspected." Mr. Malfoy explained.

"No worries, Mr. Malfoy, I understand that..."

The rest of what the principle said was blurred out from Harry's head. It was Him... again. Oh dear Lord, what had Harry done to deserve this? This... Mr. Malfoy, guy could have been assigned to any class- _any_ class. But nooooo! He just _had_ to be assigned to Harry's class, and not just any of Harry's classes. Oh, no, because you see, that would have been too easy. No, Mr. Malfoy had to be assigned to Harry's favorite class. Ugh!

This was _so_ not fair.

A/N: Okay, there you have it. My pitiful attempt at yet another AU Harry Potter story. I hope everyone liked it. The chapter isn't really too long, but it is longer than the chapters of my previous story. Let's just hope it stays that way, shall we. Anyway, erm...hoping for some kind reviews. I knew this idea may sound a little fetchy, but I really like it, and I think it's something I would really enjoy writing. I mean, I had a blast writing this chapter. So, please...some kind reviews?


	2. Confused Feelings

OMG! You guys totally rock!!! I've NEVER received this many reviews all in one chapter, much less, in my first chapter. Man, I've just gotta say, "Snaps for my reviewers!" WOOHOO!!! This is awesome!

Okay, you guys have just totally inspired me to write. However, as always, but even more so this year, I am way busy, so there will most likely be only one update a week, which is good because it keeps you in suspense, wanting for more, and you don't get bored of it really quickly because it's always there. Wow, talk about a run-on sentence.

Once again, a huge THANK YOU to all my wonderful reviewers! And, by the way, I'm feeling particularly smug and sexy with this new hair-style I just got at the salon, so, hopefully, I can incorporate that into this chapter for you guys.

I'm going to take the advice of one reviewer who told me not to have Draco outwardly flirt with Harry because that would, indeed, get him arrested. Also, I know I planned it out in my head, but with all the excitement of writing a new story, I suppose I forgot to mention in the chapter. So I'll put that in this chapter. Thanks, to the two reviewers who caught my mistake.

If anyone else catches any other mistakes or omitted pieces of information, please, don't hesitate to let me know so that I can try to put that into the next chapter.

Also, a HUGE thanks to the one and only, Gabrielle Potter Malfoy, for the idea of this story. Snaps for Gabby! snap, snap

Okay, enough chit-chat. I know you guys want some more story.

So here we go.

Chapter: 2

Confused Feelings

_**  
A**_fter Mr. Dumbledore exited the classroom, closing the door on his way out, Mr. Malfoy turned around to flash a breath-taking smile at the class. Girls sighed, stared with awe, and thanked the heavens above that they were sitting, for if not, they surely would have fallen from being weak in the knees.

Boys, however, growled, clenched their fists, and cursed the heavens above for making this girl-magnet a teacher, for if not, they surely would have beaten him for attracting the stares of their girlfriends.

Mr. Malfoy, however, simply let out a small chuckle. He was used to this type of behavior. He would make all the students like him soon enough, though. Especially the raven-haired boy who was currently seated next to a red-head.

Mr. Malfoy tried to make eye contact with the boy, but he stubbornly refused to meet his gaze. The blonde teacher decided to leave the boy alone for now, and move on to introducing himself to the class.

"Well, class." Mr. Malfoy began. "I'm new, and you guys are stuck with me for the rest of the year, so I say, 'why not make things as easy as possible?'"

This behavior from a teacher made some of the students stir, confused.

Mr. Malfoy continued to smile brightly, however. "Alright, well, I know I'm your teacher, but 'Mr.' always makes me feel so... old," he said with a grimace, raising a few giggles from girls, and even a few chuckles from a few boys. Everyone in the class was already starting to warm up to him. This was a good sign, he though to himself with a smile. "So why don't you guy just call me by first name, Draco, and I'll call you by your first names, too?"

A snort could be heard from the far left of the classroom. Draco turned to look at the red-head who he had previously noticed sitting next to his object of fascination.

"Was there something I missed? Something funny you would like to share with the class?" Draco inquired with a raised brow.

The read-head, also known as Ron, blushed. All the students in the class were staring at him curiously.

"No, sir." Ron answered. But he could not help himself and added," It's just that..." before he stopped, realizing that the following statement would only lead him into trouble.

"It's just that what?" Draco pushed further, almost daringly.

"Well, your name, sir. Draco. I mean, what kind of a name is that?" Ron asked, laughing, as Hermione gasped, not believing Ron had actually said that.

"Think my name's funny, do you? And what, pray tell, is your name?" Draco asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"It's Ron," He answered proudly.

"Actually, his full name is Ronald Weasley." Hermione added, hoping to anger Ron.

"Thank you very much,..." Draco said, as if asking for her name.

"Hermione Granger," Hermione answered, blushing, which only further enraged Ron.

"Yes, thank you, Hermione," Draco answered, flashing her a brilliant smile, before continuing. "Well, Mr. _Weasel_," He gasped dramatically, and covered his mouth with his hand, before saying, with a smirk. "Oops! I am _so_ sorry. I meant... Weasley."

The class erupted with laughter at Draco's supposed "mistake". Even Harry couldn't help but let out a chuckle, as he saw Ron's face turn red as a tomato. Whether from anger or from embarrassment, Harry didn't know.

"Anyway, Mr. _Weasley,_ thank you for your assessment of my name. Now, Ron, do you mind if I call you by your first name?" Draco asked.

Ron simply shrugged, refusing to meet his gaze.

"Alright, Ron, I was thinking of having everyone introduce themselves to me by stating their name, if they're alright with me addressing them by their first name, and a little something about themselves. Since you've been the first to give your name, let's start with you. Tell me something about yourself."

Ron gave a grunt before grudgingly mumbling, "I like watching football."

"And girls," One of the boys from the back added in with a laugh, earning several snickers from the boys, and a disgusted "ugh!" from several other girls.

Draco coughed to cover up his laughter before saying, "Very good, Ron. Very good. Next person, behind Ron." Draco said.

Three students answered differently after that.

"My name is Susan Bones. No, I don't mind if you call me Susan, and I like to help my little sister fix her hair."

"Terry Boot. Don't mind, and I guess I like playing basketball."

"Thomas Reynolds, I suppose I don't mind, and, well, my favorite food is pizza."

Next was the raven-haired boy. Draco watched eagerly, desperate to know a bit more about this student, who so intensely grabbed his attention.

"Erm...my name...is Harry." Harry mumbled, feeling rather uncomfortable under Draco's intense gaze. "Erm...Harry Potter. It doesn't bother me if you call me Harry, I mean, everyone else does." Harry continued with a nervous laugh. "Erm...something about me would be...I guess it would be that, erm..." Harry struggled desperately to think of something, anything! It didn't have to be something big. It could be his favorite sport, his favorite food, the day of his birthday, anything! But he couldn't say anything.

"What's your favorite type of flower?" Draco asked, helpfully, although he had intentions other than just helping Harry with an answer.

"Oh, um... tulips." Harry answered, with a blush.

"Interesting..." Draco murmured aloud, but was interrupted from his musings, as the next person continued. Several other students continued, until they had finished.

In the end, there was a very angry Ron, whose girlfriend, Hermione, had shot constant flirtatious smiles at Draco. The rest of the class, however, was getting along great, and definitely enjoying Draco's company as a teacher, over their old teacher's.

"I suppose I'm supposed to assign some homework, eh?" Draco mused aloud, which earned him several groans from around the classroom.

"Oh, don't worry. It's my first day, and trust me: I want to be liked. So your homework will be easy. For your homework assignment, I want you to go home and look at something, someone, or... anything, really. Then, I want you to come up with one simile or metaphor to describe it's features.

"Now, I want this to be a fun assignment, so you can describe the object or person, in whatever way you want. It can be as nice as, 'her eyes shone with the beauty of a tropical sea,' to as wickedly evil as, 'his embarrassed, red face was like that, of a baboons butt.'"

His last comment received laughter from everyone except Ron, who simply glared, loathing Draco with each word he said.

"Alright, class dismissed," Draco said with a chuckle, as the bell rang.

* * *

"**_I_ **_hate_ him!" Ron growled as the trio joined up after school to walk home together.

"Really? I think he's rather...charming, don't you, Harry?" Hermione asked, ignoring Ron's irate glare at her comment.

"Yeah, I guess." Although Draco had freaked him out at first, Harry had to admit that Draco really was a rather cool teacher. This entire sophomore year, he had yet to start liking a teacher.

However, Draco definitely made it on Harry's good list. With the way Draco treated all the students as though they were equal, Harry honestly felt as though Draco was 16, as well.

Perhaps Harry had just gotten the wrong first impression of Draco.

Harry was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts, as Ron's angry yells rang through his ears.

"Charming!? Please! He gets off on making fun of innocent students! I mean, honestly: 'Mr. Weasel. Oops! I meant, Mr. Weasley.' Please! He did that on purpose! And he was referring to me when he made that metaphoric joke about the baboon's butt, I just know it!"

"Oh, Ron, for the love of God, stop your whining!" Hermione exclaimed, exasperated.

"Oh, you're one to talk! You were hanging all over him! I swear there was drool hanging out of your mouth at one point!" Ron yelled back.

Hermione gasped indignantly. "How dare you! That's not true. Besides, even if it was, that's one to the hundreds of girls you've ogled at while dating me!"

"That's entirely different! He's a teacher!"

"And they're slutty whores!"

"Well, at least..."

Harry laughed to himself as the two continued to argue.

Honestly, those two were never going to change.

_

* * *

**I**t was time for eighth period again._

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all walked to class together this time, which definitely made Ron jealous. Hermione always came for class at the very last minute so that she could spend as much time in the library as she could before class started.

However, for eighth period, Hermione made sure to skip the library and drag the two other boys with her straight to literature, and Harry and Ron both knew exactly why.

Harry raised a curious eyebrow as he saw the grimace on Ron's face while the three walked closer and closer to Draco's classroom. It was odd. Ron was actually...well, jealous; it wasn't even just a normal jealous that Ron could just shrug away, either. He hadn't even stared at passing girls during lunch with the rest of the guys that day.

Instead, he had actually spent it with Hermione, sitting in the _library._

Harry had accompanied Hermione, as well, not feeling much like ogling at girls. He hadn't read any books, but he had learned plenty as he watch Ron try to converse with Hermione and even pretend to be half interested in the things she was saying.

Perhaps Ron really did care about Hermione as a girlfriend.

Harry didn't get to think anymore about this subject, however, as he heard Hermione say, "Hello, Draco."

Harry stepped into the classroom just as he heard Draco's reply.

"Hello, Hermione. What brings you to class so early? It doesn't start for another five minutes." Draco asked with a friendly smile, although he had been looking at Harry the entire time he'd been speaking.

"Oh, well. You know, we all love literature, so we like to get in as much as we can." Hermione answered with a slight blush.

"Speak for yourself, woman," Ron muttered irately.

Hermione shot him a glare before turning back to Draco with a smile.

Draco wasn't paying much attention to Hermione, though, as he watched Harry with fascination. "Harry, do you really enjoy literature?"

"Erm..." Harry began nervously, before deciding to simply look Draco in the eyes. After all, it wasn't that big of a deal. Draco had proven to be a cool guy yesterday. "Yes, actually, I do. It's my favorite subject."

"Oh really?" Draco asked, returning Harry's gaze; refusing to break it now that he had finally gotten it.

Harry was beginning to wish he hadn't decided to try and be brave about the situation. Eye contact with Draco definitely wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. Now that he'd looked into Draco's eyes, he couldn't seem to look away.

They were even nicer than he'd though them to be just yesterday. They seemed brighter, and simply...mesmerizing.

Harry gulped, inwardly begging for someone to say something and ruin their eye contact. He was beginning to feel a little faint.

"Erm...Draco. You know, I just finished reading a book titled Flowers for Algernon, and it's really quite fascinating. Have you read it?" Hermione asked, struggling to keep Draco's attention focused on her.

"What? Oh, um, yes, actually. It is quite an interesting book; sad, though." Draco answered, putting on a weak smile as he tried to cover up his disappointment. He certainly hadn't wanted to look away from Harry's dazzling green eyes, but he also didn't want to cause any suspicions

"Oh, yes it is. I mean, poor Charlie." Hermione replied, shaking her head. "I mean, what must it have been like to go from mentally challenged, to a genius, and then slowly back again to being mentally challenged? I'm sure he wished that he had never taken that operation to become smart, in the first place."

"Well, actually," Harry cut in, recovering from his previous staring contest with Draco. "I think it was good that he got to experience being a genius. I mean, yes, afterward, he wished to be smart again, but at least he knew what it was like to be a genius; at least he knew a little more about having intelligence."

Hermione looked at him with a frown, disagreeing with him entirely.

Draco, however, seemed to favor Harry's opinion. "I think you've got a point there, Harry. After all, it's as the saying goes. 'It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.'"

The three of them all stood in a thoughtful silence for a moment, while Ron simply stared in bewilderment thinking only one thing:_ What the bloody hell are they talking about?!_

Hermione opened her mouth to voice her disagreement just as other students began walking into the classroom.

"We'll have to continue this conversation another day." Draco said with his famous, seductive smile, as he walked to the front of the classroom and grabbed his plan book from his desk to begin the day's lesson.

The bell rang and the rest of the students quickly rushed in, sitting at their desks, as a boy from the back began telling Draco about his homework assignment.

"Hey, Mr. D." He began, earning an amused raise of the eyebrow on Draco's part. "I came up with a really cool simile last night. My sister is as ugly as a hippo..."

_

* * *

**S**chool ended, and Harry closed his locker and swung his backpack over his shoulder to walk over to Ron's locker, where they would then proceed to walk to Hermione's locker._

As Harry turned around, however, he came face to face (well, more like face to shoulder, considering their height difference) with none other than his literature teacher, Draco.

"Oh, um... Hello, Draco." Harry greeted, both surprised and, once again, a bit nervous.

"Hello, Harry. I very much liked the ideas you had on Flowers for Algernon. You think outside of the box, and I think that's a great attribute in a young student such as yourself."

"Thank you." Harry said, with a nervous smile. It was quickly becoming harder to breathe as he realized just how close Draco was standing next to him. He took a quick glance to his left and right, and noticed that there were barely any students left in the hallway.

He had to move away from Draco now. He didn't like the way his teacher was looking at him, almost...hungrily. Harry gave an inward shiver at the thought. Even worse than that, however, was that although Harry couldn't see himself, he didn't doubt that he was growing that same look in his eyes, as well.

"Draco, I have to go. My mum will kill me if I get home late again. You know how mothers are. She's really over-protective."

"But, of course," Draco answered smoothly, before forcing himself to pull back. "I'll see you tomorrow, Harry."

"Yeah, see you." Harry answered, before quickly walking away, and outside of the school. He didn't have time to go walk to Ron's locker. He was going straight home.

_  
RING! RING!_

Harry lay, sprawled across his bed and buried his head underneath the pillow as heard the first ring of the telephone. He didn't want to deal with civilization at this moment. He just wanted to go to sleep and forget the events of the day. Things were just much to confusing. Could he possibly fancy his own teacher, and a guy, at that? He couldn't be...gay, could he?

_  
RING! RING!_

Ugh. He was trying to go to sleep in order to avoid his current choice of sexuality dilemma. Couldn't the caller see that? Perhaps, if he let the phone ring long enough, the caller would give up and just leave him alone.

_  
RING! RING!_

Then again, maybe not.

_  
RING! R-_

Ah. Finally. The caller had given up. Harry let himself slowly drift off into dreamland before..."Harry!" his mother, Lily Potter, called from downstairs. "Ron is calling!"

Harry let out a desperate groan. He begged his muscles to pull him out of bed, but they simply would not budge. There was only one solution.

Harry slowly rolled over once, twice, and... THUMP.

He lay there, on the floor for a moment. Perhaps his sweet, kind-hearted mother wouldn't make him move any further. Perhaps she could use her "Mummy Power" to realize that her son was in dire need if some solitude and could not be bother with forcing his muscles to pull himself up and pick up the phone, which so tauntingly sat on his bedroom night stand.

"Harry! Hurry up! I can't stand here all day long, you know!"

And once again, maybe not.

Harry raised his head slightly to stare intensely at the see-through, cordless phone for a few seconds before letting his head drop back down onto the floor in reluctant resignation.

Obviously, God had not gifted him with the power of telekinesis.

He heard a loud, exasperated sigh escape his mother's lips as she walked up the stairs, making a loud STOMP with each step she took, to let him know she was angry. When she reached the door to his bedroom, she opened it with one hand on the handle, and the other on her hip.

She stared at Harry for a moment before rasing an eyebrow.

"Have I raised a child who is so lazy that he can't even get up to pick up his phone?" Lily asked, unbelievingly.

Harry gave a whimper as he stuck out his lip in a pout.

Lily rolled her eyes before walking over to the stand and grabbing the phone, and handing it to Harry, who still lay, helpless, on the floor.

"I'll let it go this time because it looks like you've had a bad day. But next time I'll pull you by your ear and drag you over to the phone. Understood, Mister?" Lily asked with a playful smile, as she leaned down and gave him a motherly kiss on the forehead.

"Yes, Mum. And thanks," He called out as she walked out the door, letting it close shut behind her.

Harry then stared at the phone, before raising it to his ear and listening quietly, waiting for his mother to hang up the other phone. When he heard the small 'click' he breathed in and asked, "Hello?"

"Well it's about time! What took you?" Ron asked, sounding a bit frustrated.

"Oh, sorry. I was almost asleep and I didn't feel like getting the phone," Harry answered, truthfully.

"Oh. Well, sorry about interrupting you, mate. It's just that I was wondering... why didn't you meet me at my locker after school, today?"

"Oh, erm... I was just sleepy, so I decided to come straight home. Sorry," Harry replied, partly telling the truth.

"You could have come to my locker really quickly and we would have walked home together."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter. You had Hermione."

"Well, yeah, but it's Hermione. I mean, come on. She's my girlfriend and all, but, other than that...she's sort of boring." Ron answered as if it were obvious.

Normally, Harry would have laughed at Ron's statement, knowing that Ron didn't really mean that. Today however, Harry was not exactly in the best of moods."Well that's not my fault." Harry answered dully.

"Well, no...but. Are you alright, Harry? You sound sort of angry."

"Yes, I'm fine, Ron. I'm just tired."

"Why are you so tired?" Ron asked , beginning to sound very much like Hermione with all his questioning, which Harry voiced aloud.

"You've been spending way too much time with Hermione. You're beginning to sound just like her. What does it matter why I'm tired? I just am!" Harry answered, a bit more harshly than he'd meant.

There was a silence on the other line as Ron simply took in this new side of Harry, which was much more angry than usual.

"Listen, Ron. I guess I'm just a bit grouchy because I'm tired. Let me call you back later, when I'm feeling better rested, okay?" Harry asked, trying to keep himself calm. He didn't want to ruin his friendship with Ron because of one stupid little incident.

Ron took a moment to answer. Harry had never behaved so hostile toward him, before. If anyone had ever gotten angry, it had always been Ron, while Harry stayed by his side to keep him stable. Ron scrunched his eyebrows together in frustration.

Feeling a bit hurt, and not knowing how to behave in response to Harry's words, he settled for just leaving Harry alone for the moment. Maybe it was something Harry needed to deal with on his own.

"Okay, yeah...um, sure. Bye, Harry."

"Bye."

Harry waited to hear the 'click' of Ron's phone, before clicking the 'off' button on his own phone.

-

A/N: Alright, dudes. This chapter wasn't exactly my best. It was a bit slow and dragging I think, but that's only because it's just the introductions to the tension, the people, and confused feelings, hence the title. So don't give up on the story please. REVIEW! REVIEW!

**What to expect in the next chapter**: Much more tension between Draco and Harry, Draco making Harry out to be his teacher's pet even though he doesn't want to be(as suggested by a reviewer), and some evil rumors that definitely upset one very lost Harry Potter.

You guys, I pretty much have the ending all figured out, but I'm open to all suggestions by you guys about what to put in between the story to help the story line stay interesting. So please make as many suggestions as you can, because believe me: I love using suggestions from my readers. Once again, please REVIEW!!!

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	3. Not so Confused and back again

Dudes, thank you all so very much for the wonderful reviews! I'll probably be posting every Sunday from now on, so you'll know when to look out for a new chapter.

You guys are great and I love all your wonderful reviews! Snaps for my reviewers

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.

Also, some of you wondered about Draco, because it seemed as though I was making him sound like a crazy stalker type of guy. Well, I'm actually not really sure about how I want his character to come out, just yet. All I know for sure is that, being as to how Draco is a very determined man, he wants to get closer to Harry, and that's his only goal. Harry, wants him, too, he just doesn't know it yet.

But if you're thinking that this is going to be one of those stories with a psychotic Draco kidnapping Harry or something like that, then I'm sorry for having given you the wrong impression. That's not how the story is going to go at all. I'm simply having a very determined Draco go after a confused Harry, who doesn't know what he wants just yet.

But there will not, I repeat, **there will not** be any form of rape what so ever. So please bare with me as I try to develop my characters.

In reply to some reviewers:

Baringuard( ): Harry and his friends are 16. And, although it has not been mentioned, in my mind, I estimate that Draco is the age of 23.

Zierkala: I can understand your English perfectly. I was actually studying French for a little bit, but, for now, I've put it on hold. You are very talented to speak both English and French. :-D

BadAzzSlytherin (Jessica): Happy Belated Birthday! Sorry I couldn't say it to you sooner. Hey, in May, we'll be the same age! Congrats on turning 14.

Once again, I dedicate this and every other chapter to Gabrielle Potter Malfoy.

Here's the next chapter.

Chapter: 3

Not so confused…and back again

"Do you know anything about a boy called Harry Potter?" Draco asked, sounding as nonchalant as he could.

"He's an insufferable little brat, and that's all there is to him," Severus Snape answered, with a sneer at even just the mention of the raven-haired teen.

"Really?" Draco inquired, his jaw clenching slightly. Careful not to show his anger, however, he chuckled and asked, "Why is that?"

"He thinks he owns the ground he walks on, that's why. Everyone thinks he's so innocent and kind, but I know the truth. He's just an obnoxious little brat."

"Surely, you can't really mean that."

"Oh, but I do. But tell me, Mr. Malfoy-"

"Call me Draco," the blond interrupted.

"Yes, Draco. Tell me, why do you care so much about what I think of the boy?" Severus asked, suspicious.

"Well, it seems to me that he is very interested in literature. He had some wonderful ideas on this one story we were discussing, and I simply wanted to learn a bit more about him."

Snape raised a brow, believing Draco wasn't saying the complete truth, but said nothing more.

Feeling a bit lucky, Draco dared to ask a bit more about Harry. "Do you know if he plays in any sports and such? After school activities always serve as a fuel for literature, in my opinion."

"He's on the basketball team, if I'm not mistaken." Snape answered, warily.

"Hmm… interesting."

"What is?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that I played basketball when I was in high school, as well." Draco answered easily, with a smile.

Snape simply looked at him, trying to figure out what the young man before him was up to.

"Well, Severus," Draco began, looking up at the old clock that hung tiredly on the beige-colored wall of the teachers' lounge. "I'd better get going. Classes are about to begin."

And with that, Draco let himself out, leaving behind a very suspicious Severus Snape.

"Ron! Hey, Ron!" Harry called, as he ran up to his best friend, just three minutes before classes were going to begin.

Ron turned away from his locker to look at Harry. "Yeah, mate?"

"Listen," Harry began. "I'm really sorry about yesterday. I just wasn't feeling too good. I had a headache and there was all this confusion going on in my head and-"

"Don't worry about it, mate." Ron said with a grin, as he gave Harry a friendly pat on the back. "We all have our moments."

"Thanks, Ron. You're the best friend a guy could ever ask for." Harry said, smiling at his best friend.

"I know, I know." Ron said, brushing his nails against his shirt, feigning an air of obnoxiousness.

Harry let out a laugh and said, "Don't push it now, Ron."

"Hey…" Ron pouted.

"Save that for Hermione. You know that doesn't work on me."

"I can't. She's so bloody obsessed with that Malfoy guy. I swear, he's all she ever thinks about." Ron said, shaking his head.

"Personally, Ron, I don't think she really likes him."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, tilting his head slightly to the side in confusion, as a dog would to his owner.

"I think she's just pretending to like him so she can get your attention."

"What are you talking about? She's always had my attention." Ron protested.

"Oh, come on, Ron!" Harry exclaimed refusing to believe that Ron was that thick-headed. "Before she started this whole crush on Malfoy thing, all you ever did was stare at other girls. And even when you did finally sit down to spend some time with her, you just tuned her out and daydreamed about other girls."

"That's not true. I mean, how can you be so sure? Hermione would have told me if she felt I wasn't giving her my attention."

"I know because she told me. She didn't want to go and complain to you about it because then you would just tell her that she complained too much. Honestly, Ron. Did you really never notice?"

"Well, no, I didn't. I thought she knew that those other girls didn't really mean anything to me. I mean, it's not like I cheated on her or anything."

"Well, it's not like she's cheating on you, either. She's just staring and daydreaming about some guy."

"Yeah, I know, but it still hurts. Just because she's not doing anything physical with Malfoy, it feels like she likes him more than me and…ohhh." Ron said, eyes widening, as he realized just what Hermione was going through.

"Exactly."

Ron looked down at his feet for a moment, feeling ashamed with himself. "I'm going to have a talk with her about it at lunch, when we see each other, and tell her that I'm not going to stare at other girls anymore; then she can stop staring at Malfoy so much." Ron voiced, triumphantly.

"No, no! Don't do that, Ron. She's a girl. It doesn't work that way. They don't like it when you do things straight-forward like that. Besides, that'll make her think you're only saying that so she'll stop staring at Malfoy. You've got to just ignore her stares at Malfoy and be nicer to her. Buy her a rose or another little gift every once in a while. Tell her how much you love her and how thankful you are to have her as a girlfriend every chance you get to see her. Stuff like that."

"Wow, Harry. Have you ever considered going into marriage counseling? You could really fix any marriage with advice like that."

"Thanks," Harry muttered, with a blush.

"How is it possible that you don't have a girlfriend, with a romantic heart like yours?"

"I don't know," Harry replied with a shrug. "I guess I just haven't really been attracted to any girls, lately."

"You haven't been attracted to girls, lately?" Ron repeated, raising an amused eyebrow.

Harry stared, confused for a moment, before realizing what he'd just said. "No! Not like that, Ron! Don't be thick! Of course I'm attracted to girls! Why would you even suggest something so ridiculous? I just haven't found one that I want to be my girlfriend, yet."

Laughing at Harry's sudden outburst at the teasing comment, Ron replied, "I know, Harry. I was only joking. Of course-" The red-head was interrupted, however, by the bell sounding for the beginning of classroom, which meant they were late. "Oh, damn. Alright, Harry, I'll talk to you later." Ron said quickly, before Harry nodded and the two departed, running as quickly as they could, hoping their homeroom teacher would be kind enough to let them get away without a detention slip.

Harry sat stiffly sat himself into a seat next to Neville who looked extremely nervous. Of course, this didn't come to Harry as a surprise. After all, this was biology with Snape, the most evil creature Harry had ever had the misfortune of meeting.

The greasy-haired man liked to practice making kids quiver before him as he glowered down at them, although how anyone would be able to see over a nose as big as his was beyond Harry.

Harry gave a weak smile in Neville's direction before settling himself into a chain of thoughts.

He had no time to worry about Neville or Snape. Harry looked back on his previous conversation with Ron and contemplated over why, exactly, he had let out such an outburst over a small joke.

The only reason a joke that insinuated the idea of Harry being gay would bother him so much were if it were, indeed, true- which it was not. Right? The nervous teen gulped and furrowed his brows together in frustration as he continued replaying the whole scene over and over again in his mind.

_How could you let yourself get so out of hand?! _Harry scolded himself. Poor Ron had done nothing to Harry and yet, he had yelled at the red-head. It was only lucky that Ron was never one to take things too seriously when it came to Harry, as they had been friends for many years.

Perhaps- Harry was interrupted from his musings as he allowed his eyes to widen in terror as he felt a presence standing directly behind him. He slowly allowed himself to tip his head back, revealing what he already knew would be there.

Harry held back a whimper of fear as he looked up into the fearful black eyes of his biology teacher. The teen gave a weak smile in a desperate attempt to lesson the fowl mood of the greasy-haired man that currently towered over him quite ominously, in Harry's opinion.

"Wipe that smile off your face this instant, Potter!" Snape barked out, agitated. "I asked you a question and you neither answered nor looked in my direction. You noticed my presence only when I stood directly behind you, and in my opinion, Mr. Potter, I think that it is fairly safe to infer that you were daydreaming. Wouldn't you agree?"

Knowing better than to disagree with his biology teacher, and not feeling quite up to an argument, Harry nodded wordlessly.

"Pitiful," Snape muttered to himself, while handing Harry a pink slip. "Detention, Potter."

And with that, Mr. Snape walked away and went back to teaching the class. Harry made sure to sit up in his seat and at least pretend to pay attention, for fear of getting another detention.

"Hey, mate. Feeling better?" Ron asked, as he sat himself down on Harry's right, as Hermione was already sitting on his left.

"What do you mean? Did something happen, Harry?" Hermione asked, already worried.

"No, I just got a little frustrated earlier this morning." Harry answered grudgingly.

"You do know I was only joking, don't you, Harry? I know you're not gay or anything like that." Ron said, reassuringly.

"Gay? What?" Hermione asked, incredulous.

"I know, Ron. I guess I've just been feeling weird lately." Harry answered, ignoring Hermione.

"But why? That's what I don't get, Harry. You've been saying that since yesterday, but you won't tell me why."

"I don't know, PMS or something." Harry muttered with a smirk.

"Wait- only girls can get PMS. What on earth are you guys talking about?" Hermione asked, entirely lost for once.

"Ron merely laughed. "For once, Hermione, I think we're going to leave you out of this one."

"But why?" Hermione whined uncharacteristically, thinking it completely unfair.

"Because it's fun to know something that you don't." Harry supplied, sharing a grin with Ron.

"Hmph…" was all Hermione said.

Harry began digging into his lunch feeling better about everything even if he hadn't talked it out. Ron said it himself- Harry wasn't gay, so there was nothing to worry about. He was going to go to literature class and be happy about it. After all, it was his favorite subject. He shouldn't let a little self-confusion ruin that.

"All right, class. After speaking with Hermione and Harry just yesterday, I decided that we should start reading a novel." Draco began, earning groans from seventy-five percent of the class, (except Hermione, who smiled, delightedly, and Harry, who looked on, curiously) with the other twenty-five percent glaring at Harry and Hermione.

"Way to go, Harry," Ron said sulkily.

"Sorry," Harry said, with a weak smile.

"Now, now, there's no need to worry, class." Draco reassured. "I just came out of school, myself and I know that it's simply horrible to have to endure an entire marking period reading something purely idiotic. I made sure to select a book which I thought would be interesting for all of you. Now, I went through the ideas of The Outsiders and Of Mice and Men, but if you haven't already done those books in elementary school, then I figure you'll get around to them at some point during your attendance in school.

"So, instead, I found a book that is less common among the Board of Education. The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane." Again, groans filled the room. "I know, I know. This is a literature class, not a history class, but the style of writing and use of language in this book is wonderful. Honestly, you just have to give it a try."

After a moment, the students gave in to Draco's pleading smile, and sat himself atop his desk as he began to read. "The cold passed reluctantly from the earth…"

When he had finished reading the first chapter, he had asked everyone to write a brief paragraph on their thoughts concerning the novel, which were to be handed in before the end of the class period.

Once again, there were groans heard throughout the classroom.

Harry walked toward Ron's locker with a smile on his face. He had actually rather enjoyed the first chapter to the story, which he proudly showed in the paragraph he had written in class.

"Hey Harry, you look to be in better spirits."

"I feel better, Ron. Happier." Harry answered with a smile.

"Glad to hear it, Harry." Ron answered, as he closed his locker and they proceeded on to meet Hermione.

"Hello, Ron. Harry, what did you think of the story? I think it was a marvelous start." Hermione said, by way of greeting.

"Hey, what about my thoughts on the story?" Ron whiner, feeling left out.

Hermione gave him a look before sighing and then asking, "Okay, Ron, what did you think of the story."

"I thought it was bloody boring, that's what." He answered.

"And this is why I never bother. Now, Harry, what did you think?"

"I thought it was great, but I'd rather wait until tomorrow to discuss it. That way we can get Draco's opinions on the story, as well."

"You're absolutely right, Harry. After all, he is the teacher, so he should be able to make sure we get the right view on the story." Hermione replied.

Harry only smiled as the three began walking to leave the school.

"Harry, there you are!" Someone suddenly called out.

The trio turned around to see their literature teacher jogging up to them.

"Albus…erm…I mean, Principle Dumbledore informed me of your detention right before school ended and I thought it really was a waste of time to give you a detention simply for daydreaming, so I asked to make a deal." Draco said, after catching up to them.

"A deal?" Harry asked, confused.

"Well, yes. It seems to me that Mr. Snape is just an old prune who feeds off the pleasure of torturing innocent students." Draco stated, earning a gasp from Hermione and a chuckle from Harry and even Ron. "Anyway," he continue, "I thought, why waste time sitting in detention and doing nothing when you could instead, stay with me after class and help me with some things. That way, you serve your time, but nothing goes on your record."

Sometime during his speech, he had somehow managed to rest his hand on Harry's shoulder, sending shivers down Harry's back.

Nervously, Harry looked up, into his teacher's brilliant grey eyes, and found himself nodding, having lost the ability of speech.

"Perfect. It'll take place after school, on Monday, all right?" Draco asked, flashing Harry a breathtaking smile.

"Uh…" Harry said, at a loss for words. When had Harry gone back to the first stage?

"Yes, Harry?" Draco queried, with an amused smile.

"Uh….uh… Monday, right. Can't wait." Harry finally said.

"Same here," Draco said, finally pulling his hand away from Harry's shoulder. "Well, have a nice afternoon you three." And the blond then walked back to his classroom, leaving Harry very confused all over again.

AN: I'm horrible, I know. And I'm very very sorry. I know I said I was going to bring in this rumor for this chapter, but I suddenly realized that I was getting way to ahead of myself and that it was much too soon to bring in the rumors. I still had to introduce Snape and make him suspicious of Draco to add to the story plot, and I had to have Draco begin a topic for literature, and then I also needed Harry to resolve the small argument with Ron, give Ron some advice for Hermione, and go back to being confused again. I'm really REALLY sorry. You guys probably hate me, but I just had to. If not, I would have rushed into everything like in my last story, and then you guys would have been complaining that I rushed into things too quickly without enough detail. At least I gave you a nice detention with Harry and Draco to look forward to, even if it isn't technically a detention. The detention will definitely be in the next chapter, and I will also have some girls start to get a little jealous of Harry for sort of being a teacher's pet. Also, the book for literature, I've only just decided to read it because I've been meaning to read it, and I figured, why not put it into the story? I know you guys probably hate me for this chapter, but please review anyway. The next chapter will be better, I promise!!! And it's Christmas break, so the week will go by fast.

Please review!!!

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	4. An Angry Teacher

Hello to all! I am finally back! I have to give you guys all a BIG apology! Although shouldn't give you lame excuses, the truth is that I've been super busy filling out applications for schools and going on personal interviews to all different states! It's been really hectic, and whenever they ask what my favorite subject is, I tell them English, because I love to write and how I can freely express myself and whatnot, and then they ask me if I write in my spare time. And I think to myself, "Yeah, I write gay stories and post them on the internet for people of all ages. You want a sample?" I mean, seriously, what do they want from me! I wish I could freely tell people what I enjoy writing most about, but in a society filled with prejudice, I must keep it myself. tear

Anyway, I don't have to keep it from you guys, so here it goes!

BTW: I dedicate this and every other chapter to my dearest friend, Gabriella Malfoy Potter. You rock! Love ya.

Chapter 4

An Angry Teacher

"Harry, come down for breakfast!" Lily Potter called from the kitchen.

Harry let out a tired groan as he lazily opened one eye, looking over at the digital clock on his nightstand. The luminous green numbers read 8:30. "Ugh," he moaned out again, rolling over on his back to stare at the ceiling in order to give himself some time to wake up a bit more.

Why his mother insisted on waking up early even on Saturdays, Harry would never know.

He slowly rolled over onto his front again, and used his arms to push himself up, as if he were doing push-ups. Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he languidly raised his hand to rub the sleep from his eyes. The young teen breathed in deeply and then let it out in a heavy sigh.

Mornings were not the best time of day for Harry.

After another shout from his mother was heard, Harry gave up trying to hold onto the precious warmth of his bed and let his feet meet the floor as he pushed himself off the bed.

Sluggishly, he dragged his feet out of his bedroom, and to the bathroom door on his right. Feeling too lazy to lift his hand all the way up to open the door, he simply used his head. Pushing into the door as a bull would to a man yelling "torro!" Harry looked up into the mirror and decided to finally get ready for the day.

DHDHDH

After brushing his teeth and doing all the other necessities in the bathroom, Harry leisurely made his way down the stairs, still half asleep.

"Well, it's about time," voiced James Potter from behind his newspaper.

"Mmm," Harry murmured sleepily, taking a seat across from his father at the kitchen counter.

"Don't tell me you're still tired!" The older man exclaimed, incredulous.

"Don't yell so loudly," Harry whined.

James let out an amused chuckle before taking a quick glance at his watch and standing up. Unlike Harry, James didn't have the day off. He had to go to work.

"Have fun, Kiddo," James said, giving Harry a chaste kiss on his ruffled hair, before kissing his wife good-bye and then leaving out the front door.

"Here you go, Sweety." Lily said, placing a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon before him.

"Thanks, Mum." Harry murmured, with a small smile.

"You're welcome, Dear. So, is there any particular reason why you're feeling especially groggy this morning?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, you're usually not a morning person as it is. But you're usually only this exhausted when you're worried about something." Lily explained, knowingly.

Harry dropped his head low. He hadn't even been thinking about the detention he was going to have to face on Monday, with Draco. Now, however, it all came rushing back to him. How did his mother know him so well? _Mothers…_Harry thought to himself, smiling a little.

He didn't want Lily to know, however, so he simply shook his head and answered, "No, Mum. I'm fine."

"Well, I don't exactly believe that, but I'll let you have your space." Lily answered understandingly, as she walked away, getting ready to leave for work, herself. She remembered how she had always gotten annoyed at her own mother when Mrs. Evans always pried into Lily's personal life, and she didn't want to treat Harry in the same, nosy way.

Harry smiled to himself, gratefully, and quickly ate up the food on his plate so that he could get dressed and pay his friend a visit.

DHDHDH

Ronald Weasley was running. He was running from a mob of angry, giant spiders with burning torches in each of their long, spindly legs.

He could feel the sweat glistening on his forehead as he pushed himself to keep running for his life. His lungs were on fire, and his legs were begging for a break.

With a quick look behind him, he gasped, terrified, as he realized that they were getting closer! The red-head looked forward again and urged his legs to move him faster. But he was too slow.

A young female spider, although how he knew it was a female was a mystery to him, threw herself on top of him and tackled him to the ground. Panting, Ron turned himself over to look the Spider in her several eyes with a pleading look in his own blue ones.

"Please, don't kill me!" He whimpered, pathetically.

The spider opened her mouth, oozing with slimy saliva and answered, "I'm not going to kill you, I'm going to-" TAP TAP TAP.

The spider had suddenly started tapping her head against Ron's.

"What the…?"

TAP TAP TAP

"Hey, stop that!"

TAP TAP TAP!

Ron suddenly woke up with a start.

TAP TAP TAP

He turned his head to the right, only to find his best friend, Harry, sitting atop a thick tree branch, and tapping on his window to get Ron's attention. Rolling his eyes, Ron walked over to the window and opened it, allowing Harry access into his room.

"Why didn't you just ring the door bell, like normal people?"

"I didn't want to wake up your family."

"Oh, but you don't mind waking me up?"

Harry answered with a lop-sided smile.

Ron simply shook his head and walked to his bathroom to wash up.

DHDHDH

"Three cokes please," Harry said to the waitress.

After Ron had gotten dressed, they had gone over to get Hermione, who had already been up and dressed. Now, they sat in a small local store called, "The Perfect Place." The trio always came here for either a quick bite to eat, or just to hang out.

"Oh look, there's Luna." Hermione said, with a pleasant smile.

Luna, catching Hermione's friendly smile, walked over to them.

"Hello, Harry," She greeted with a small, shy smile. Although Luna wasn't always all there in the head, it was a well-known fact that she had quite the crush on Harry.

"Hey, Luna."

"Hi to you guys, too, by the way." Luna said to Ron and Hermione, who nodded back in polite greeting. "Well, I guess I just wanted to say hi, which I did. So…bye." Luna said with a blush creeping up her neck, before quickly walking away.

"Well, that was both weird, and entirely pointless." Ron said.

"Oh, Harry. She's such a lovely girl. Why don't you ask her out?" Hermione asked.

"Well, because it's Luna!" Ron exclaimed.

"I wasn't asking you, Ronald. So hush up."

Ron simply glared down at the wooden table.

"I don't know. I'm just not attracted to her, I guess. Maybe I will some day, but not right now." Harry answered.

DHDHDH

The rest of the day had gone by quickly, and Sunday had disappeared so soon, Harry couldn't even remember it. Today was Monday and he was currently sitting in his eighth period class, literature.

"I am going to be giving back your paragraphs on the first chapter of The Red Badge of Courage." Draco announced. "Some of you need to improve on your writing skills, and some of you," he said, grinning in an almost seductive manner, as he handed Harry his paper, "astound me entirely."

Harry tried to ignore Draco's over-friendly smiles, but couldn't help the embarrassed blush as he noticed several of the girls, Pansy Parkinson, in particular, glaring at him enviously.

Looking down at his paper, Harry noticed a check plus and a comment on the very bottom of the page, written in fancy, elegant script, just as Harry had imagined Draco's handwriting would be. It read:

_You have excellent ideas Harry, and you have a natural talent for writing. I can't wait until our little "get-together" after school._

Harry quickly crammed the page into his backpack, ignoring Hermione's protests. The emerald-eyes teen normally had no problem with allowing his fellow female friend to see his assignments and grades, but this was one paper that Harry definitely did not want Hermione to see.

Although it didn't outright state anything out of the ordinary, Harry couldn't help but feel something in the pit of his stomach that told him there was more to the comment than it seemed.

"Now, class, I wanted to get into a discussion about…"

The class went on with the exchanging of opinions on the novel and the main character until there were only five minutes left before the end of the class.

"Now, one last, quick question before I let you all go. Who, here, believes that Henry's decision in leaving home for the war was the right thing to do? Yes, Dean?"

"I do." Dean answered simply, with a triumphant smile on his face.

"Alright…" Draco said, with an expectant look on his face. Seeing, however, that Dean didn't know that he was supposed to explain his opinion, Draco decided to give him a little push. "Can you tell me why you feel that way?"

"Oh," Said Dean, with a slight frown at having to actually think more in order to come up with a valid explanation. "Well…I mean, he got to impress all the girls in his brand new uniform, you know? I mean, who doesn't want more chicks if they can have 'em?"

"Yeah!" Several boys called out in agreement.

"Alright, well, would anyone like to disagree with Dean's opinion?"

Harry looked up into Draco's expectant face. He could tell the Draco was trying to get someone to see the true feeling of the story; to see beyond the happy façade of a soldier's life. Hermione's hand was waving about frantically, but Draco wouldn't pick her, and Harry could understand why. Whenever Hermione explained something, she tended to completely lose the class between her impressively large vocabulary and airy tone of intelligence.

Not knowing what took over his brain, Harry felt his arm shoot up into the air.

"Yes, Harry?" Draco asked immediately, a grin of appreciation on his face.

"Well, I…umm…I disagree. I mean, because well, that was just what it looked like on the outside. People would look at the soldiers in their fancy uniforms, smiling like heroes and looking so brave, but that wasn't what it was really like. After they had all their fun and stuff, there was really a lot more to it. See, Henry wasn't going to be able to live like a care-free teenager anymore. War was going to change him and even potentially kill him. And Henry's mom, well, she knew that. She could see past the whole charade that everyone put up so that they could get guys to sign up for the army, and she knew that it wasn't going to be easy. Sure, Henry would have the girls all over him at first, but what about once he left for the camps? What about when he went to war? He'd be lucky to just come out alive. And I think Henry's mom really understood that better than anyone, and that's why she cried." Harry said, looking down with a faint blush after he'd finished his small speech.

"Well, said, Harry!" Draco exclaimed, with a huge smile lighting up his handsome features.

"What a teacher's pet." Pansy Parkinson mumbled enviously, a little too loudly.

Draco's head instantly snapped up, his eyes glaring with fury in her direction. The atmosphere in the room had suddenly turned very tense. "What was that, Pansy?"

"Uh…nothing, Draco." Pansy said in a frightened voice, although she struggled to put on a sweet smile.

"Don't you dare lie to me! I heard exactly what you said. I am usually a pretty easy-going guy, Pansy, but I refuse to have _any _name calling, _whatsoever_ in my classroom. Is that understood?" He asked, seething with anger.

Pansy nodded dumbly, too frightened to do anything else.

"Good, because if I _ever _here you call anyone any names again, you will have a week's worth of detention." Draco finished, in a deathly low voice. His eyes continued to crackle with grey-blue sparks of pure anger as he stared at Pansy, still completely consumed by fury.

The students all sat around uncomfortably, desperate for class to end so that they could escape the angry teacher. Harry felt especially sorry for the next class.

He looked down at his hands on the desk, blushing with slight embarrassment at the way Draco had immediately jumped to defend him so intensely. The young teenager idly wondered if anyone else would think that Draco had just done it to defend him or because he hated name-calling in general. He hoped it would be the latter.

The bell finally rang, and everyone scrambled out of the room as quickly as their legs would take them.

DHDHDH

Harry Potter gulped deeply as he stood outside of Draco's room.

"Go on, Harry." Hermione urged, giving him a slight push toward the closed door.

"I'm too nervous." Harry said, before realizing what he'd said. His eyes went wide and he abruptly shut them, dreading the question he would get for his statement. He had to think of an excuse, and quickly.

"Nervous? What for, Mate?" Ron asked.

"Oh, umm…because of…erm…well, you know." Harry said. Some thinking he had done.

"Oh, I know what you mean, Harry." Hermione said, an understanding look in her eyes.

"You do?" Harry asked, stunned. How had she found out? He hadn't told anyone about his confused feelings toward Draco.

"Of course. You're a bit scared because of the way he snapped at Parkinson today, aren't you?" The brunette supplied, helpfully.

_Yes!_ Harry's mind shouted, very thankful, indeed.

"Uh, yeah, Hermione. That's it. I just didn't want to say it because I thought I'd sound like a bit of a coward."

"Oh, Harry, don't worry about that. He only got angry because that Parkinson girl has really been getting on everyone's nerves, lately, and Draco was the first one to actually do something about it. Besides, she had no right to call you a teacher's pet."

"Yeah, but Harry has a point, Hermione." Ron cut in. "You know, as bad as Pansy is, don't you think he overreacted just a bit?"

"Well, maybe. I don't know. I suppose the fact that I very much dislike Parkinson might be making my opinion more subjective than objective." Hermione admitted.

"Listen, Mate, just go on in and do whatever it is that you have to do. It's better to get it over with than prolonging the whole thing. Do you want us to wait for you?"

"Uh, no. It's fine. You guys go on."

"Alright, Harry. Just tell us about it tomorrow, alright?"

"Sure, Hermione. You guys better get going. See you."

The two friends waved good bye and then walked away together, leaving Harry alone.

DHDHDH

_This is it._ Harry thought to himself.

He took in a deep breath and then slowly let it out. Why was he even feeling so nervous? Draco was a teacher, and as such, he was going to treat Harry in the respectable manner that all teachers treat their students.

…right?

AN: I know, you guys hate me. First, I don't update for nearly two months, and then, I break my promise and leave the detention for next week! I'm sorry! Listen, I just thought that you guys might want me to at least update now just to let you know that I hadn't given up on the story. If I had included the detention, I wouldn't have update until next week anyway, so in the end, you're still going to get the detention in the next chapter. At least this way, you got a small taste of the story. The reason I hadn't update for so long was because I have been applying to schools and have been terribly going to personal interviews and preparing myself to leave a good impression on the admissions officers. But I have finally finished all my interviews and have nothing left to do except wait. So I can go back to updating once a week as I had initially planned. I apologize if this chapter sucks. The next is where the plot really starts to heat up between Harry and Draco. This time I promise to have the detention in the next chapter for sure, because I mean, it's not as if I can actually prolong it for any longer. Oh and also, I know some of the stuff in this chapter seemed just like it was dragging and unnecessary, but I promise it was ALL NECESSARY. I have it all planned out. (Except for Ron's psycho spider dream. That was just fun to write.) Toodles.

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	5. The Detention

Yes, you hate me. I know. I'm sorry! I'm just so freaking lazy and now the stupid state tests are coming up next week and like, woah! Okay, but listen, I'm going to know if I've gotten accepted to my schools in one week, so that's definitely got me psyched up! YAY! And today is a much needed snow day, so I'm taking this as an opportunity to finally update.

I know you guys must be getting frustrated with my updates but please don't stop reviewing. Please. I'm just…in a hectic stage right now, but like, the workload from school is going to be a lot less after the state test this coming week. My teachers all promised to give a lot less work. So, hopefully I'll start updating every week like I'm always trying to make myself do. Please don't forget to review!

Okay, now onto the awaited chapter!

Oh, BTW, VERY IMPORTANT! Okay, the detention is going to start out totally platonic and you're probably going to get upset and decide to just forget the story, but DON'T WORRY! It only starts that way to throw Harry off guard. Trust me, the detention will most definitely not end at all platonically.

I dedicate this, and every other chapter to one very special Miss Gabriella Potter-Malfoy!

Chapter: 5

The Detention

Harry slowly lifted his hand onto the doorknob and painstakingly commenced to open the door which could very well be the death of him. Harry quickly shook his head before pushing the door open. He had to stop being so bloody melodramatic.

For all the worries Harry had accumulated over the weekend, he only received a friendly smile from Draco and a quick, "Hello, Harry. Come sit."

Harry walked over to the wooden chair that had been propped up next to Draco's own rolling chair at his desk, and sat down with a frown.

"Is something wrong, Harry?" Draco asked with a concerned look on his face.

Harry stayed silent for a moment. Was there honestly anything wrong? This was exactly what he'd wanted. He'd wanted Draco to act professionally toward him, and now he was.

So why did he feel so put out?

Had he actually wished for Draco to think of him as desirable? Had he really wanted Draco's attention and affection? Did he now, secretly wish that Draco would lean over at this very moment and kiss the breath out of him?

Quickly shaking his head clear of all these thoughts and earning a confused look from Draco, he put on a fake smile and answered, "No, nothing's wrong."

"All right, if you say so, Harry." Draco replied, growing a smile of his own.

"So, guess what I have planned for you to do for me on this lovely Monday afternoon?" Draco asked, clapping a hand onto Harry's shoulder as Ron had done many times before.

It was such a platonic action, but it sent inward shivers down Harry's spine. It was overwhelming, how he suddenly felt the urgent need for Draco's affection and overly friendly actions. He felt himself leaning into Draco's touch, just ever so slightly. If Draco noticed, he didn't show it, and for that, Harry was very grateful.

Harry simply looked up into Draco's eyes with a weak smile, not trusting his voice at that particular moment.

"You're going to help me grade some tests!" Draco said in the perkiest voice Harry had ever heard him use. Suddenly, Draco grimaced and added with a sad shake of his head, "Lord, no matter how happy I try to sound when I say it, it still seems just as boring in the end."

Harry forgot his infatuation with Draco's touch for just a moment and let out a small laugh. Draco really didn't seem like a teacher at all.

_And besides, _Harry added to himself. _He's almost my age._

The last thought made him begin to wonder about all the possibilities if Harry were only two years older.

"Yoohoo, Earth to Harry." Draco called, waving his hand in front of Harry's face. "I knew this was going to be a bit boring, but honestly!"

Harry put on a lopsided smile and murmured a quiet, "Sorry."

"Oh, no need. Don't worry about it. Anyway, these are just some papers I gave to my third period class. I swear, that class is filled with the smartest people I've ever seen; they could definitely compete with Hermione. So, they all claimed that they had gone out and bought the book for themselves and read the entire thing that very same day I had told them about it. They then proceeded to demand that I give them a test on the novel in order to allow them the opportunity to raise their grades even higher than they already are." Shaking his head in what Harry could only interpret as slight disbelief, Draco looked over at Harry with a shrug and gave him a face that said, 'Oh well, what can you do?'

"I bet Hermione would have loved to take a test, too." Harry said, nodding to his own statement.

"I'm sure she would have. Well, maybe I'll give her the test separately as extra credit, although I don't see why she would need it. But anyway, Harry, the answer sheet is right there," Draco indicated, pointing over to a green-colored sheet of paper to his right, "and the test sheets are right here." At this, Draco lifted the sheets of papers he held in his hands. "Now, for the multiple choice, you'll be easily able to determine which answers are correct and which aren't. As for the open-ended questions, just read my answer and mark it correct just as long as you can tell that their answers tell, more or less, the same thing that mine does. I'm not marking this as a major test or anything, so if you're not sure, just give them the benefit of the doubt and mark it correct."

Harry nodded in understanding and accepted the test papers as Draco handed them to him.

"Now, some of them are already graded," Draco continued, "So just put them to the side. That's less work for you. As for me, I'm actually just going to be working on tomorrow's lesson plan. Are you all settled, then? You know everything that you have to do." Draco said the last sentence as more of a question than a statement.

"Mm-hmm. Yes."

"Fantastic! Let's get to work, then."

The next few minutes went on silently while Harry struggled to keep his mind on grading the papers and _not_ on Draco. He refused to even talk to Draco, for fear of embarrassing himself in front of his teacher who sat only mere inches away from him.

Harry just couldn't understand himself. He wanted Draco to stop acting so seductively toward him so that he could stop having such weird feelings toward Draco. Now, however, Draco had finally done as he'd wanted, and Harry felt himself wanting Draco more than ever!

Harry could remember the first day they'd met, when he'd gotten his first good look into Draco's eyes….those beautiful grey eyes. Harry nearly let out a sigh before he quickly caught himself and shook his head- he'd been doing that a lot, lately.

Harry's brows furrowed as he resisted the urge to look over at Draco and just grade these damn papers that refused to bloody end! The people who took these tests had the most annoying never-ending responses to each and everyone single one of the open-ended questions on the test.

_No wonder Draco decided to have me help him grade these. I would have just burned them and given everyone an A to get it bloody over with!_ Harry thought to himself.

"Harry," Draco called suddenly.

"Yes?" The raven-haired teen asked, taking this as an opportunity to look into Draco's eyes, reasoning that he wasn't staring at Draco. He was simply being polite by looking at the blond teacher while he was being spoken to.

"I meant to apologize to you for my sudden outburst in class today. I think that perhaps that's why you've been behaving differently toward me this afternoon; more distant. I honestly didn't mean to lash out so furiously."

Harry felt a sudden pang of guilt as he heard Draco's apology.

_I was so busy worrying about my own stupid teenage hormones that I made Draco feel bad. And for what? For defending me against that snotty Parkinson? God, I am such an idiot. _Harry thought to himself, quickly looking down at the test papers and away from Draco's grey eyes; this time willingly.

"Oh, you don't have to apologize for that." Harry mumbled quietly. "It's fine."

Draco let out a heavy sigh, apparently unsatisfied with Harry's response.

Feeling as though he should further explain himself, Draco continued. "You know, it's just that, as a teacher, I work very hard to get all my students to strive for their full potential, but some students, inevitably, decide not to work at all. Pansy, as you must know, is one of those students, and I am fine with that, as it will only ruin things for her. However, when she tries to bring down a student as brilliant and talented as yourself as well, Harry, I just get extremely upset. Why should she make you feel bad for working hard simply because she's too lazy to do the work herself?"

"I understand, Draco. I know why you got angry, and I should actually thank you for defending me. I'm not upset about that at all." Harry looked up into Draco's eyes and, seeing that the blond didn't believe him entirely, quickly added, "Honest."

"Then why have you been behaving so…awkward around me, Harry? It's as though you afraid to be near me."

_I am…but it's because of something entirely different._ Harry thought to himself with a nervous gulp.

"It's nothing. I just…I…" Harry began, already stumbling over his words.

"What is it?" Draco asked, getting more curious by the second. He leaned in closer to Harry, so that their faces were mere inches apart. "You can tell me, Harry."

Harry was promptly forgetting how to breathe. Every single one of Draco's features was absolutely perfect. His nose was perfectly straight with the slightest of curves just at the very end. His skin, a flawless sheet of creamy silk. Harry could smell Draco's heavenly scent of … water. Draco smelled like a divine waterfall; like the morning dew; like water cascading out from a showerhead; like water in its purest form.

Breathing in, Harry became intoxicated by this diving and entirely unique scent. No one had ever smelled so wonderfully blissful.

The teen's eyes quickly began to flutter closed, and Harry felt himself, as if in slow motion, leaning forward.

Somewhere in the back of Harry's mind, Harry could vaguely hear sirens going off in his head, warning him that this was wrong. Hesitantly, Harry stopped his journey forward and pulled back just ever so slightly, and looked into Draco's eyes in question.

Harry was soon answered as Draco leaned forward the rest of the way and delicately placed his lips onto Harry's.

Harry leaned into the kiss further, wanting more. He could feel Draco's tender lips part as his tongue lightly caressed Harry's lips, coaxing the willing teen to allow the blonde's slick tongue entrance.

Harry could feel his mind clouding, as the kiss deepened. He couldn't think; he couldn't concentrate; he couldn't make sense of what was happening. All he could do was feel himself drown in a pool of pure ecstasy.

As Draco cupped Harry's cheek with his hand, to pull Harry's face closer, the boy's eyes abruptly snapped open and the sirens from before came back, blasting in his head.

Harry pulled back with a gasp and opened his mouth to say something…anything! But nothing came out. He just stared at Draco, scared and at a loss of what to do.

"Harry….I….perhaps you should…perhaps you should go. I think you've served your full 'detention'."

Nodding emphatically, Harry stood up and quickly rushed out the door.

DHDHDH

Draco sat at his desk, deep in thought.

He had obviously gone too far. He had to learn how to better control himself.

Harry had just looked so adorably vulnerable, Draco couldn't help but lean in to taste those perfectly succulent lips. But he had deepened the kiss far too much. Harry was most definitely more than a little frightened.

Draco's grey eyes clouded with confusion.

It had appeared to him that Harry had wanted the kiss just as much as Draco. He could tell that the brunette was undeniably attracted to him. But why, then, had he pulled back with so much fear?

Draco buried his face into his hands in frustration and then pulled his hands up, combing through his hair, only to come back around and allow him to rest his chin on both palms.

He didn't know what his next move should be. He knew he was playing with fire. His actions were very dangerous, and most definitely risky. But his ever-growing desire for the emerald-eyed teen was far too strong to ignore.

He would continue to pursue Harry.

He would just have to make sure to be more careful about it next time.

DHDHDH

Gasping furiously, Harry threw himself into his bed.

He had run all the way home, too panicked to think. His legs had quickly carried him home, setting an all new record, in his opinion.

Face thoroughly smothered by his pillow, Harry breathed in heavily and began to think.

What had just happened? Had he really just kissed his own teacher? His own male teacher?

_Wait, wait, wait, wait! Not only have I just committed a federal crime by kissing my literature teacher, but I'm also bloody gay?_

Desperately needing more oxygen, Harry pulled his face away from his pillow and tried to calm himself down before he began to seriously hyperventilate.

_How can I just suddenly turn gay at the age of sixteen? It's not possible! It just isn't! I'm not gay. I can't be! I've been friends with Ron for years and I never, ever felt any attraction towards him. So there you go. I'm not gay!_

Harry stopped for a second and retraced his thoughts to go over what he had just thought.

_That is great! This is just bloody great! Now I'm being a stereo-type, assuming that if I don't like every single guy I see, I'm automatically not gay. But wait. What point am I actually trying to make, here? Am I bloody gay or not?_

Harry involuntarily let out a desperate whimper before glaring at his bedroom wall and muttering aloud to himself, "I am not gay."

DHDHDH

"I'm going to ask Luna out."

"WHAT!"

"Oh, Harry, I'm so happy for you!"

Harry had announced his decision the next morning, as the three met up in front of the school.

After much thought and consideration the night before, Harry had decided that the only way to prove he was straight and stay away from Draco was to get a girlfriend. He had thought about just who to ask out, when Luna's name just suddenly popped into his head.

She wasn't by any means, an ugly girl. She was slim, had nice, straight blonde hair, and had an… interesting personality. Most importantly, though, she liked Harry.

This would make it much easier to ensure that he did not embarrass himself further than he already had in the past few day. Harry was in no mood to be turned down for a date.

"Why, Harry? WHY! Why are you going to do this to yourself?" Ron asked, desperate to cure his best friend of his temporary insanity.

"Oh hush up, Ron! Harry, I think it's a marvelous idea! I always knew you were going to make a girl very happy some day." Hermione said, beaming happily.

"Gah," Harry looked over to Ron who was, apparently, trying to gag himself with his right index finger.

Harry rolled his eyes with a slight smile. "Ron, calm down. I just think that it's about time I started looking for a girlfriend, you know? I'm sixteen and I think it's only right that I allow myself this privilege."

"Privilege? You think dating Luna Lovegood is a privilege! Harry, you must be out of your mind! It's a bloody punishment! It's a- ow!"

"Hermione, quit smacking him over the head." Ron grinned broadly at hearing Harry defend him. "After all, we can't afford to have him get dumber than he already is." Ron's grin quickly disappeared as his friends' laughter filled his ears.

"Hey, that's mean, Harry! You're supposed to defend me!" Ron exclaimed with a pout.

"Alright, alright. Hermione, _please_ hold back on your impulse to smack Ron over the head every time he says something stupid."

"I'll try."

"Thank you." Ron said, satisfied.

Harry chuckled and the two boys separated from Hermione as they headed to their lockers, which were closer together.

"Listen, Harry. I've been trying to do something nice for Hermione like you said, but I can never find the right time or anything. I have no idea what I should do. I want to make her happy, and I really, really want to get her to stop smacking me over the head."

"Well-" Harry stopped suddenly, as he saw Luna walking a bit ahead of him. "Listen, Ron. I'll get back to you later, alright. Then, I promise to help you with Hermione, alright."

"Sure think mate. See you."

"See you."

DHDHDH

"Luna!" Harry called out as he caught up to her and soon fell into step with her.

"Yes, Harry?" Luna asked, a dreamy, slightly lost look in her eyes.

"Er…well, I was wondering. Would you…would you like to go out with me?" Although Harry was sure she'd say yes, he was still a bit nervous.

Luna, however, stopped walking and smiled vibrantly. She answered in a distant, yet excited voice, "Of course!"

"Great, well…I'll see you around, then."

Harry walked away, feeling as though he'd forgotten something. And as he turned the corner he slapped his palm against his forehead.

_I forgot to actually schedule our bloody date!_

AN: YAY! I updated! Now, Luna and Harry…yikes! I totally don't like that, but, unfortunately, it's a necessity to this story. Also, I've never written an actual kissing scene or anything of the sort on my own. I've always had a beta to help me. So, since this was my first time, please don't hate me too much for sucking at it. I plan to have many more kissing scenes and such later on in the story, so any comments or helpful advice would be greatly appreciated. It is 3:30 am and I am so very, very tired. I wanted to go to sleep earlier but I said, "No, I am going to finish this chapter, and I am not going to stop until I finish!" I just had to update for you guys! So please, please, review, review, review!

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	6. Sometimes, Life Just isn't Fair

I'm sorry! I just can't seem to help myself lately! I just keep updating every _tw_o weeks instead of every week. I'm sorry! I will try to snap myself out of this horrible habit. I know you guys are tired of excused, but I mean, things were sort of hectic last week. I GOT ACCEPTED! I'm going to go to a great school in Massachusetts! I only have to pay 2,000 for the year, because they gave me a grant of 35,000 so yeah! I got a full scholarship to another school, but this one is better, academically. From what I've been told, it's the third best, and that's good enough for me! I know the number one school, and the kids seem way too much like robots to me. I didn't even apply there.

I won't mention any specific names because it's not allowed here on I think, so you guys will just have to make up your own schools to which you think I will be attending next fall.

Hopefully, my school will make me a better writer so that I can write you guys better stories. I'll just have to be a bit sneakier with my stories and because I'm not exactly sure if this is allowed there. Oops. P

Anyway, yeah! So, like, my friend was all sad because she didn't get accepted, and so when she found out that I got accepted, she got angry at me and my whole mood went bad and the whole sob story. However, she has gotten over it, and I am happy once again, and so I have come to write for you wonderful readers!

Wow, I have really wasted too much space writing about my boring life! So let's move on to the dedications and story.

I dedicate this entire story to Gabriella Malfoy-Potter. You are the best! Please, get better!

Also, I would like to thank Majin-koz for giving me some personal information to help me further get in tune with the character personality I am trying to create for Harry.

Finally, thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! You guys rock! Thank you lots and lots!

Now, let's get on with the story!

Chapter: 6

Sometimes, Life Just isn't Fair

Harry had carefully avoided Draco as much as he possibly could, given the fact that he had the blond teacher for eighth period each day. He raised his hand as little as possible, gave his opinion only once in the last few days, and forced himself to zone out and think about other things while Draco read The Red Badge of Courage in his melodic voice, refusing to let himself get caught up in his confusing feelings once again.

However, Harry couldn't exactly avoid Draco for the rest of the year, and on that Friday morning, this fact was proven.

After much consideration on how to go about his conversation with the young brunette, Draco had decided to confront him.

Draco walked up behind the young brunette, as he finished grabbing all the books from his locker.

"Harry." He said, "I'd like to have a quick word with you."

Harry's eyes shut tightly, and stopped all movement, hoping upon hope that he had just imagined Draco's voice behind him. _You're just imagining things, Harry. I mean, Draco wouldn't actually come up to you outside of his classroom. I'm just imaging things…right._

"Harry?" Draco called.

_…Or, you know, maybe not._

"Well, I guess I'd better leave. I can't be late to class." Ron, who had been standing on Harry's right, said. Before he left, however, he quickly leaned in and whispered a quiet, "Good luck," into Harry's ear.

Ron didn't know exactly what was going on between his best friend and literature teacher, but he had certainly noticed how different Harry had been acting toward the blonde. Whatever it was, Ron at least knew that Harry did not feel comfortable around his teacher anymore.

"Thanks," Harry quietly whispered under his breath, but Ron was already too far gone to have heard.

Slowly, Harry closed his locker and wait. For what, he did not know, but something was bound to happen sooner or later.

A long sigh tickled the back of Harry's neck just ever so slightly. Forcing himself to hold back a shiver, Harry decided to finally turn around.

"Yes, Draco?" Harry asked, in a voice so quiet that Draco had only just barely heard him. Harry forced himself to stare at the floor while Draco spoke; he wouldn't let himself get lost in those eyes, not again.

"Harry, I just wanted to apologize about…" Draco looked around to make sure there was no one near by before continuing in a hushed voice, "About what happened on Monday afternoon."

"No need, Draco. It's fine. If that's all, I really have to get going. I don't want to be late for my next class. I swear, Flitwick is a nice guy, but he really gets annoyed when people are late and…"

"Harry, please don't try to push me away. I really am sorry about Monday; it never should have happened."

Harry stayed quiet for a moment, letting sorrow take over. Had Draco never meant any of it? Had he just been feeling desperate on Monday? Did he now totally regret it and just wish to make Harry promise not to tell anyone about it? No, Harry didn't really want things to go further with Draco, but it would have been nice to know that Draco had genuinely liked Harry.

"So do you wish it had never happened?" Harry continued on in a cold, bitter voice. He didn't need an answer. "Don't worry about it. I promise not to ever tell anyone about it. We can just forget it and act like it never happened. Just like you want."

"Harry look at me," Draco ordered, before Harry could turn away. "Harry, please, look at me." the blond repeated, this time letting the concern he felt for Harry be evidently heard.

There was a moment of silence while Draco continually stared at Harry, waiting for the stubborn young teen to look up, into his eyes.

"Why?" Harry asked, trying to hold onto his anger, but it was growing harder and harder to stay angry at the man before him, when his voice seemed so concerned and caring.

"Because I want to tell you something very important, and I want you to read my eyes. I want you to know that I mean every single word I say to you."

With a small gulp, Harry tugged at every bit of bravery that so desperately hid away deep within him, and pulled his gaze up into Draco's clear grey eyes.

"I don't regret what I did, Harry. I only regret the way I did it."

Harry's eyes squinted slightly in confusion before Draco continued.

"I wish I hadn't frightened you away quite so soon."

Harry gave a sharp intake of breath. Was Draco saying what he thought he was saying? But wait, this was still wrong. Hadn't this been what he'd tried to avoid all week? Why was he letting Draco pull him in once again? Why was he slowly tipping himself into those beautiful pools of grey, begging for a swim, when he knew that he would only drown in the too-strong current?

He had to pull out, and quickly. He had to tear his eyes away from Draco's. But he couldn't, he just couldn't.

_Somebody help._ He thought desperately.

And help, they did.

"Harry, you're late for class, as well. I woke up and saw the most magnificent spider calling out to me. I couldn't get ready for school. I had to talk to her. I read an article once that told me there were spiders who could speak telepathically, and I finally met one. I brought it to school with me. Would you like to meet her?" Luna asked. She had stopped after each and every sentence and gotten a glassy look in her eyes before coming back to reality and continuing from where she had left off.

"Oh, umm… no thanks, Luna." Harry mumbled. Usually, he would have given her a weirded-out look, but he was just feeling much too thankful for Luna's timely interruption.

"Oh, you're late too, Draco. You'd better hurry before you get detention."

"Luna, I'm a teacher. I can't get…never mind." Draco sighed, deciding not to bother with the odd young lady. She was a clever young lady when it came to schoolwork, he could admit, but she was most definitely not all there in the sanity department.

"Well maybe you are going to try to weasel your way out of detention by giving the oldest excuse and saying you're a 'teacher', but I am an honest person, and I have to get to class right away."

This time, Harry couldn't help but let a confused look on his face, as did Draco.

"Oh, but before I leave, Harry, I just want to confirm out date. You're picking me up at six, right?"

Both men froze.

Harry froze from total mortification and slight guilt.

Draco froze from intense jealousy.

"Date?" Draco ground out through very tightly-clenched teeth, though he tried to cover it with a smile.

"Yes, Draco." Luna answered. "I would invite you, but I think it would be weird to have a teacher chaperoning our date."

_**You're** bloody weird!_ Draco thought angrily. _How dare she go out with Harry!_

Draco couldn't help the intense jealousy that so eagerly took over his every thought.

"Umm… yeah Luna, six. I have to go now." And with that, Harry quickly rushed away, not wanting to stay in the embarrassing situation anymore.

As he got to his art class, however, he realized two horrible things.

One: he was late.

Two: how on earth was he going to face Draco during eighth period?

He suddenly wished he had never asked Luna Lovegood out on a date.

DHDHDH

Draco needed time to think.

Angry emotions were completely devouring him. He was way passed jealousy and now into anger. He wasn't angry at Lovegood, either, oh no. He was angry at Harry. He knew that Lovegood was too whacked up to actually ask Harry out. Harry must have been the one to ask that wretch girl out.

And who did Harry think he was?

Harry had shown that he was quite attracted to Draco, but the next thing the blond knew, Harry was scheduled for a date with a psychotic nut-job!

As Draco entered his classroom, he looked at all his students, waiting for him to finally begin their lesson.

"Draco, I wanted to talk about this idea I came up with for Henry's feeling and why he-"

"Not now, Laurent." Draco said, effectively cutting off the girl's next words.

He couldn't deal with teaching eight different classes today. He would have to make a change in today's lesson plan.

"We're going to be doing something different today."

DHDHDH

"Harry, you should eat something," Hermione advised in a motherly voice.

"I'm not hungry, Hermione."

"But why?"

"Oh, Hermione, would you leave the poor sap alone?" Fred intervened.

"Yeah, he's obviously getting nervous about his date with the Lovegood girl." George jumped in.

"Well who wouldn't be?" Fred asked.

"True, she is one weird person." George answered.

"If you can even call her that."

"You're right, brother. Then what shall we call her?"

"Oh, dear brother, there are not words to describe the psycho- freak that is Luna Lovegood."

"Very true, very true."

"Harry is one very brave man."

"Either that, or one very _stupid_ man."

"Ah, well. Both work."

"I don't reckon he'll survive."

"Yeah, I'll bet that in a few days, people will be talking about Harry: the boy that once was."

"Harry: the brave soul who dared to date that which should never be dated."

"The boy who-"

"Oh, that's enough!" Hermione exclaimed, interrupting the two boys who had obviously forgotten their presence.

"No need to get your panties in a twist, smart one." George said with a snicker.

"Oooh! You two are completely insufferable!"

"Why thank you! Never have we been so generously complimented!" said George, with a bow.

Glaring at the two twins, she willed them to leave with her angry eyes.

"Oh alright, alright. We'll leave you alone."

"Thank you," Hermione said, stiffly.

"Oi, Hermione, could you be anymore of a prune?" Seamus asked, with an amused quirk in his lips.

"What are you talking about? I am trying to get Harry to eat a healthy meal of lunch and then those two dunderheads come in, and decide to make Harry feel worse than he already feels. I think I had a right to make them go away."

"But-" Dean tried, deciding to help out his friend.

"Don't bother, Dean. Hermione will only beat you to a pulp with her maniacally intelligent words of sophistication, stabbing you again and again until you are but an inch away from the ever-doomful light that is death." Seamus said, overdramatically.

"That was actually rather poetic, Seamus." Hermione praised, with a small smile, for the moment, forgetting that he had just mocked her.

Seamus beamed proudly before he suddenly frowned as Hermione continued on.

"Now, if only you could apply that poetic intelligence to your school work, then you could…" Everyone groaned, silently begging for a way of escape, when suddenly Hermione stopped and looked around. "Hey, does anyone know where Ron is? I thought maybe he was just a bit late because he might actually be taking my advice and asking a teacher for extra help, but he's way too late."

Harry finally looked up with a mischievous smile.

A few people answered with "I don't know."

Harry was the only one who knew what Ron was really up to.

DHDHDH

Harry ducked his head low as he walked into his eighth period class, hiding behind Ron, who had showed up five minutes before the lunch bell had rung, muttering an excuse about sitting with Terry Boot to talk about a project they were doing together. Hermione, of course, had fallen for this with a smile on her face, telling Ron how proud she was of him for concentrating on his schoolwork.

She never noticed the smile that passed between the two boys.

Now, however, Harry was not smiling. Cursing all the students for leaving only front seats for him, Hermione, and Ron to sit in, the brunette let himself sink into his desk, determinedly staring at the wooden patterns on his desk.

Harry only lifted his head slightly when he heard hushed whispers going around in the classroom.

"What's going on?"

"What is that?"

"Why doesn't Draco have his book with him today?"

"Why is he passing us papers?"

Harry turned to Hermione with a questioning look, but only got a shrug.

"Why do you think Draco wrote up those questions on the board?" Ron asked, bewildered.

"I don't know." Harry answered with a shrug.

Suddenly, the whispers stopped as Draco walked to the front of the class with a stern look on his face and began to speak.

"Today class, we are not going to read. We will not be freely discussing the novel, nor will we be exchanging opinions and comparisons between this book and others. Instead, you will all be taking a pop quiz."

The entire class groaned. (Except for Hermione, of course, who was more than delighted at the idea to raise her grade.)

"Don't 'awww' me," Draco said, mockingly. "If you paid attention during class, you should pass this easily. I have written three questions on the board. You are to choose one and spend the rest of the period writing a lengthy answer."

"I don't mean any disrespect, Draco." Seamus said, "But why are you giving us a pop quiz? I thought you told us we weren't going to have any pop quizzes. It's just not fair."

"Because, Seamus." Draco said, directing a glare in Harry's direction. "Sometimes, life just isn't fair."

_If there is an angel in all of heaven, please let me die now._ Harry thought, pushing himself even further down into his desk.

An angry Draco, was clearly not the nicest Draco.

DHDHDH

AN: Okay, I have school tomorrow, and it's really late, and I haven't done any of my homework, and this is a total run-on sentence, but I really have to go. So this chapter basically sucks, and I have not read it over, but I am going to post it anyway. Why? Because I feel that it was my own fault for not typing this up sooner, and you should not have to wait another week for it. So please forgive me for any grammatical errors and such. Maybe I'll read it over tomorrow, fix it, and reports this chapter. Or, you know, if I get too lazy, maybe not. But at least I'm posting it today, so yay. I'm not awake enough to put an exclamation mark. Actually I'm just about half asleep, so I'm going to stop my rambling now. Hope you liked this chapter, if only just a little bit. Oh, and I finally included Fred and George. Oh, and also, for those Luna fans out there, I actually like Luna's character. I just think that most of the Harry Potter characters think she's weird, so I wanted to stick with that. But I don't actually mean any offense to her. One last thing: PLEASE REVIEW!

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	7. A Surprise at the Supermarket

Hello all. I fear that I have not been able to break the curse of updating every other week rather than my initial promise of updating every week, but ah well. I'm sorry. Maybe I'll type two chapters today, that way, I'll definitely update on time next week! No promises, though. 8P. I have no idea what's going to happen in this chapter; I'm just going to write what comes to mind. So it'll be as much of a surprise for me as it will be for you. nervous smile

Oh, also, wow! I got over fifty reviews for the last chapter! Yes! Wahoo! I never thought I would be able to get fifty reviews on a chapter but you guys did it for me! Wahoo! Thank you guys so much!

So a BIG thank you to all my wonderful reviewers!

Also, as always, I dedicate this entire story to the one and only, Gabriella Malfoy-Potter! You rock! I'm so glad you got better!

Alright, so, on to the chapter!

Chapter: 7

A Surprise at the Supermarket

"Harry, why are you calling me?" Hermione asked with a voice which told that she clearly knew what Harry was trying to do.

"Because, Hermione. You are one of my very closest friends in the entire world! Can't a guy speak to his very close female friend?" Harry asked, feigning innocence.

"Mm-hmm. Harry, you wouldn't be trying to stall for time while you put off your date with Luna, would you?"

"What? Hermione, how could you accuse me of such a horrible thing?" Although Hermione couldn't see the emerald-eyed teen, he clutched at his chest, as if his heart ached painfully.

"Harry," Hermione said in a stern voice.

"Yes?" Harry asked meekly.

"You do realize, of course, that it is already 5:45, don't you?"

"Oh, really? My watch says it's only 4:40, and my watch has never failed me before, so I think I'll just stick with-"

"Harry! I cannot believe what I am hearing! If you didn't want to go out with Luna, then why on Earth did you even ask her?"

"Well, I…" Harry couldn't exactly tell Hermione the real reason as to why he'd asked Luna out. He could just imagine how that would turn out.

_Yes, Hermione. Well, you see, the thing is that I am currently quite confused about my sexuality. Therefore, to ensure that I am a straight male, I decided to ask out a fellow female. Now, you're probably wondering why I asked Luna Lovegood, of all people. Well, as it turns out, not only am I insecure about my sexuality, but I also have a very low self-esteem at the moment and was too scared to ask anyone else out, for fear of rejection._

Yeah, that would go well.

"Well?" Hermione asked, expectantly.

"Err…I um… I do want to go out with Luna. It's just that I'm a bit nervous, is all."

"Well, I suggest that you get over your nerves quickly unless you want to be late."

"Isn't that a good thing? Doesn't it show that I'm cool if I arrive fashionably late?" Harry tried to reason, hoping Hermione would give in.

"No, it shows that you are an idiot, because I will kill you if you are late to pick her up, and don't you think I won't, Harry. I will find out. I have my ways." Obviously, she was not willing to go along with Harry's little plan.

"I know you do, Hermione. I know you do." Harry answered with a slight chuckle.

"Well, good-bye, then. Now go pick her up."

"But-" It was too late. Hermione had already hung up.

"Well, the was pointless. You're no help, Hermione!" Harry whined aloud to the empty space in his room.

With a sigh, Harry forced himself to finally get up. It would be best to just get this date over with as soon as possible. Grabbing his wallet and throwing on a light jacket, he headed for the door. Just as his hand reached for the doorknob, however, his phone let out a long ring.

Silently thanking God for one more very welcome delay, Harry jumped for the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Harry," Ron's voice sounded through the phone. "Hermione just called me to make sure not to pick up the phone if you called, since you were only trying to stall off your date with Luna. So naturally, I decided to call you myself, and help you out." The red-headed teen finished with a chuckle at his own slight insolence.

"Thanks, Ron. It's not that I have anything against Luna or anything; it's just that…well, maybe asking her out was a mistake. I mean, I did it on the spur of the moment just to help clear up my head a bit, but that didn't really end up working out too well. Now he's mad at me, and I can't help but be sort of mad at myself, too. I mean, I don't know why, because I really shouldn't be. I mean, I didn't do anything wrong by-"

"Harry, Harry! Woah! Slow down. What are you talking about? Who's mad at you? Why?"

Harry's eyes went wide with shock. Had he really just let those words slip out to Ron?

"Um…you know, Ron, I really have to go! I don't want to be late for my date with Luna. After all, she's such a nice girl. I have to go. Bye." Harry garbled out, all in one breath, before quickly hanging up.

_Phew. That was close._ Harry thought to himself.

DHDHDH

_Ding Dong_

Looking around nervously, Harry waited for Luna to come to the door.

_Man, what am I doing here?_ Harry thought to himself._ I should just run. Run, Harry! Run, set yourself free! Run before it's-_

"Too late," Harry quietly muttered under his breath as the door opened to reveal a slender, middle-aged man smiling happily, though his blue eyes held a sorrow, worsened through years of age. Slightly thrown off by his deeply emotional eyes, Harry simply stood quietly for a moment, just staring into his eyes.

"Please, do come in. You are Harry, correct? Luna's date?" The man asked, opening the door wider and gesturing for Harry to enter.

"Yes," Harry answered after a brief shake of his head to bring him out of his speculation.

Walking into the living room and sitting down on a plush, beige couch and signaling for Harry to do the same, the man began to speak again. "I'm Luna's father; it's such a pleasure to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Lovegood."

"Yes, well, I simply can't tell you how happy I am to know that you've asked my daughter out on a date. Luna just about never goes out, and it was beginning to seem to me as though she didn't have many friends, but I am more than happy to say that you have proved me wrong."

Harry was beginning to feel worse and worse about his intentions. He hadn't really considered Luna's feelings during his whole emotional crisis, and had just asked her out to help him feel better; he felt as though he was, in a way, using Luna, and her feelings, as well.

As horrible as Harry felt, he could do nothing but look at his feet while offering a small smile. "Luna's great." The brunette whispered quietly.

"I'm glad you think so. She'll be down in just a moment. She takes her time when doing things; sometimes she gets distracted by little things."

"Yeah," Harry said, smiling a bit more at the truth of the statement.

After a bit more small talk made between the two male occupants of the room, Luna came down with a true smile on her face. (1) She walked over to her father and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek, before turning to Harry and greeting him pleasantly.

"Hey, Luna. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes. Bye, Dad."

"Good-bye, Mr. Lovegood."

"Good-bye, you two. Have fun."

As the door closed behind them, Harry turned to Luna and figured he should compliment Luna for their date and smiled saying, "You look great."

"Thanks, you too."

"Hey, Luna, can I ask you something?" Harry asked, slightly timid, as they walked to The Shack, where he planned to take Luna.

"Sure."

"Well, sorry if this is rude to ask, but your dad…he seemed so…sad. I mean, he was smiling, yeah, but he just…he still seemed sort of sad. Is he alright?"

"Oh." Luna's walk faltered a bit before she continued with her normal pace by Harry's side and put on a look of wonder. Looking out into the setting sun and letting the colors reflect in her eyes for a moment, Luna stayed quiet in thought before answering slowly. "Well… he and my mom were high school sweethearts. The two of them used to tell me stories of how they knew they loved each other from the moment they met. I suppose…" Luna stopped with a soft sigh before continuing. "I don't think he's ever fully accepted the fact that my mother has passed away."

"Oh." Harry replied dumbly. He was at a completely loss for words. He'd known that Luna's mother had died as a young girl, but he'd never really thought too much of it because it had happened before he'd even met Luna, and there was really no point in reminding Luna of such a horrible time in her life by asking questions about it.

If he had known that this is where is question would lead him, he never would have asked. Harry couldn't, however, bring himself to regret asking the question because he had been curious, and in some odd way, he felt just ever so slightly closer to Luna in a way that he couldn't explain. Perhaps this date wouldn't be as unbearable as he'd thought.

"Well, I'm sorry, Luna." Harry said, wrapping and arm around her and rubbing her arm soothingly.

"Oh, it's fine. My dad just has a hard time letting things go. I can't imagine what he'll do when I go off the college, but…thank you, Harry." Luna smiled up at him happily and leaned into him comfortingly.

DHDHDH

"I'll have a coke to drink and a cheese burger with fries. How about you?" Harry asked, as the waiter waited, chewing on a piece of gum patiently.

"I think I'll have the same." Luna said, tilting her head and watching with a look of fascination as the waiter wrote down their orders with a pen that lit up with a red light as he pressed down on the tip, before her spectacular show ended as the waiter tucked his pen away behind his ear.

Blinking twice, Luna stared after the pen as the distance between her and the ink-yielding stick increased. Harry let out a small chuckle, bringing back Luna's attention.

"What's so funny?" Luna asked, completely unaware of her previous actions.

"Nothing, Luna." Harry answered with a smile, which was answered with an identical smile that sprung up on Luna's lips, as well.

DHDHDH

"Harry," Luna began, as Harry walked her up the steps to her house.

"Yes?"

"This date was…fantastic." Luna said, looking out into the stars. "But I know that you don't feel for me, the way that I had been hoping you would at the beginning of this date."

"Luna-" Harry began, already feeling ashamed.

"Wait, Harry." Tearing her gaze away for the never-ending sea of jewel-like stars, Luna looked up, directly in Harry's eyes for the first time that night. "I felt really comfortable with you tonight, and I had a lot of fun. I felt happier than I have in a really long time, but only because you're such a great person. You're really nice to me, and it makes me feel good, so I always just assumed that I fancied you as a boyfriend, but after tonight, I realized that we're meant to be friends; just friends. I really want to be able to hang out with you again some time; maybe just during lunch at school. So you don't have to feel bad about not thinking about me as a girlfriend." Luna finished with a small smile.

Harry stood stunned for a moment. This was so unlike Luna. He had learned a lot about Luna that night. She could be just as smart as Hermione and just as funny as Ron. She paid attention to him when he spoke, and didn't zone off as much as he thought she would. Maybe he'd just never noticed this because he'd never taken the time to actually get to know her.

"You know, you're very different from what I've always thought you to be." Harry said, with an amused smile.

"Well, I don't know if this will make you feel better or not, but you're not at all different from what I've always thought you to be."

"I'm hoping that's a good thing."

"It is."

"Tonight was great, Luna."

"Yes, it was."

Harry leaned in to give her a friendly hug before Luna pulled away, slightly, from the embrace and closely examined Harry's neck.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, confused.

"Looking at this birthmark you have. You know, this looks exactly like the mark of the invisible hippo clan."

"Well if they're invisible, how can you see them?"

"Oh, isn't it obvious! They're invisible except for their birthmark!"

"But still, then how do you know that they're hippos?"

"Well, I'd have to go into deep detail about the history of-"

"Never mind, Luna," Harry stated, pulling away with a slightly frightened look. Conversations about nonexistent creatures? Now this was the Luna Harry knew.

"Oh, alright, but if you decide you get curious later on, just let me know."

"I will." Harry answered with a small chuckle, knowing that he would never actually get curious.

"Well, good-bye, Harry." Luna said, unlocking the door to her house.

"Yeah, see you on Monday."

And with that, Harry walked away and headed to his home.

DHDHDH

"Ron, I was just talking about my dad. I said that he was mad at me because he found out from my mom that I was taking Luna out on a date, when he knows that I don't really like him. He told me it wasn't nice; that's all." Harry reasoned, the next morning.

"Ok, if you say so, Harry."

Harry felt so very glad that Ron never went into things too deeply.

"So, Harry… you're going to help me with Hermione's surprise, right?" Ron had whispered the last part so quietly that Harry had had to lean his ear extra close to the phone in order to hear.

"Yes, Ron, but you know, you have _got_ to be more careful about how you go about dealing with these things next times. I swear Hermione got really curious about it last time when you didn't show up for lunch. Although, the excuse about your project, priceless."

"I know; I'm a genius."

"Well, I didn't say all that, now." Harry chuckled.

"Harry, you're so lucky I'm not there. I would smack you right over the head if I could."

"Well, too bad, because you can't." Harry stuck out his tongue quite childishly, and then quickly pulled it back in, thankful no one had been there to see his completely foolish act of immaturity.

"So are you coming over, or what? I did not miss my lunch period by getting put on hold by the store's manager half the time, for nothing!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

"Good. Be here in five minutes," Ron ordered, before hanging up the phone with a 'click.'

DHDHDH

"Bloody hell, Ron! How many flowers did you order?"

After arriving at Ron's house and greeting Mrs. Weasley with a quick "hello" and a peck on the cheek, Harry had entered Ron's room, only to be bombarded with a bonanza of flowers.

"Well, I actually didn't want all of these, but the manager was this old lady who was so thrilled when I told her why I was buying the big, stuffed teddy bear and flowers, that she threw in a couple of dozen extra flowers for free and told me to call back to buy more any time."

"Ron, you do realize, of course, that there is no way we can get call these to Hermione's house on one trip, don't you?"

"Unless we take my dad's car." Ron supplied, with a sly smile on his face.

"And who's going to drive, because I most certainly am not!"

"Oh, come on, Harry! Please! You're dad had let you drive his car loads of times! You told me so!"

"Well, I lied! You had just told me about all the cool stuff you get to do with Fred and George and I didn't want to feel like a loser, so I lied."

Ron let out a heavy sigh and said, "Fine. New plan. I want you to go to Hermione's house, ask her to go to the library and-"

"What for?"

"I don't know! Make up a bloody reason! Now let me finish! Keep her there for at least two hours. Meanwhile, I'll sneak into her room, by the way, make sure you open her window while you go there to pick her up, and then I'll bring the flowers to her house little by little and then set them all up. Not, I was thinking that since I also got her a box of chocolates, that it would be nice if I put the teddy on her bed, in the center of her room, holding the chocolates, and surrounded by the flowers. You're the love master, so what do you think?"

"Wow, Ron. You really thought the whole set-up rather well. I think it's a fantastic idea!"

"Great, and when she gets home, she'll be so surprised and fall completely head over heals in love with me all over again!"

DHDHDH

After making up some boring excuse about needing to go to the library to try to look up the "invisible hippo clan", Hermione had reluctantly followed him to the library.

As expected, there was absolutely no information on them, and so, Harry used this as a way to make sure they used up an entire two hours, just as Ron had asked. He continued to force Hermione to keep searching and searching, until two hours finally come around.

Then, Harry had suddenly sighed and exclaimed, "I'm bored, Hermione! Why are you making me look for something the doesn't even exist?"

Hermione had huffed indignantly and scowled, "Harry Potter, you are _unbelievable!_" and then marched off, leaving Harry to laugh hysterically to himself. Hermione was just too easy to annoy.

DHDHDH

"Mom!" Harry whined on Sunday morning. "Why are you making me go shopping for groceries? I am a hero! I just saved Ron and Hermione's relationship yesterday. Ron told me so: he said that Hermione called him and was all lovey-dovey with him for hours. Now, that's not an easy task. I need some rest!"

"Harry Potter, you will get your rest after you buy the groceries I need for dinner. Besides, I don't know why you're complaining. It's not even a lot of food that I need you to buy; it's only some food for dinner tonight, and the supermarket is not very far away." Lily reasoned with her son.

"Dad!" Harry whined. He knew he was fighting a losing battle with his mother, but that's when he always thanked God for having two parents. When one refused to budge, he could always turn to the other one.

"Sorry, Harry, but your mom promised to make my favorite dinner tonight, and there's no way I'm turning that down."

"Well, what's this amazing dinner that she's going to make?" Harry asked annoyed, not believing that any dinner could be delicious enough to go against your own son.

"Lasagna."

"Where's the money, mom?" Harry asked eagerly.

The two Potter parents laughed at the sudden change in their son's mood. They new that lasagna was just as much Harry's favorite dinner as it was James's.

DHDHDH

"Tomato sauce, the big noodle-type things, umm…what else do I need for lasagna?" Harry asked himself as he stood in the middle of an isle at the supermarket.

"Cheese, perhaps?"

"Oh yeah!" _Wait a second…_Harry tensed up before slowly turning around, and in so doing, bringing into view a very handsome young man with platinum blond hair and piercing grey eyes.

"Draco."

A/N:

(1)- Ok, I didn't mention their apparel or anything because it's just a casual date. They didn't go to some fancy restaurant or anything. It's just a normal, teenage date, consisting of normal, everyday clothing. And Luna, being the (in my mind) plain girl she is, didn't cover herself in dramatic make up or anything. She went naturally, though it was still graceful in my mind. :)

Okay, I know I always make my chapters sound so horrible in my author's notes, but come on! I know that I would have been so bored if I were reading this story. This chapter took me longer to write than any of my other ones. It took like three freaking hours! I know that there were no scenes with Draco and Harry together except for the very ending, but it's only because I just wanted to get some stuff out of the way and accidentally ended up stretching them out way too much. Blame my teachers, though! My writing and reading teacher have both been teaching me how to stretch out my writing by adding lots of words and details. So, I'm really very sorry about that. I'm sorry I didn't show Hermione's reaction to Ron's gift. I was just starting to get annoyed and I started thinking that it was just wasting too much time, so I'll explain it a little better in the next chapter. Also, I hope you guys don't hate the new side of Luna. I just always thought that maybe she's the way she is because deep down, both her and her dad never fully recovered from her mother's death, and I thought I should bring that into the story just a little bit. I always pictured her dad as very sad, and her as very sad on the inside, and just aching for a friend. I know, I shouldn't go messing around with J.K. Rowling's characters, but I'm sorry! The urge was too strong! Okay, so anyway, once again, sorry for the lack of DH scenes, but I made sure to end on one so that I could start the next chapter with it and make sure I include lots of it. So please don't give up on this story. Please review!

PS- I can't make myself read this entire chapter over to check for mistakes because I'm just really, really tired, so please forgive any grammatical errors. I promise to read my next chapter for mistakes.

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	8. Harry Potter: A criminal

Hello, everyone. Ugh…I have a horrible case of allergies and strep throat which I caught from my sister. Yuk. Boo to her! Anyway, I'm not going to let that get in the way of my story. I will update because you guys who review are just too wonderful to disappoint!

So, I would like to thank all my wonderful reviewers! You guys rock!

Also, I dedicate this entire story to Gabriella Malfoy-Potter! You're the best!

Oh, also, a small note. Remember how I mention that Harry was on the basketball team earlier on in the story? Well, I thought this chapter would be a good time to bring that into the plot because I have this totally awesome idea that came to me when my teacher made the same offer to me. Well, except that there wasn't any love going on between us; it was totally platonic. Lol. But when you put Draco and Harry in our spots, it's a totally sexy situation! So anyway, the reason I brought this up is because I want to brig in Oliver Wood as the team captain, so I'm going to have to change his age slightly. He's going to be the same age as Fred and George, who, in my story, are seniors. I hope that's okay with you guys.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the season, and how basketball is supposed to be played earlier on in the year, then sorry. It's just that I sort of need to mess around a bit with that so that I can fit the sport into my story. And since my school messed up the system and is having the basketball team now, I figured I could do the same in my story.

Now, on with the story!

Chapter: 8

Harry Potter: A criminal

"The one and only." A slightly amused look glimmered in his grey eyes.

"Uh, hi," Harry replied, suddenly wishing Ron or Hermione (or anyone, really!) would magically pop into the supermarket and save him from this entirely too embarrassing moment.

"Hello, Harry. What a coincidence it is to meet you here."

Harry merely nodded, looking around awkwardly, while Draco continued to look at him as if he wanted to say something more. Finally, a look of determination swept across Draco's face.

"How did your date go with Luna? Well, I hope." As he'd spoken, the blond strained to put a smile on his face, hoping to look nonchalant about the whole affair. Inside, however, Draco shook with suppressed anger and jealousy.

_If he says they're going to keep dating, I'll bloody kill her! No, Draco. Calm down._

Draco waited silently, a pleasant look struggling to keep its nestled perch on his face, as Harry took a moment to think his words through before answering.

_Maybe I should lie. Maybe I should tell him Luna and I had a great date and that we are going to continue dating for a long time, and that I think she's the one. That would drive him away for sure._

Harry looked up to catch a brief glimpse of Draco's eyes before abruptly looking away and continuing his newly-directed chain of thoughts.

_But do I really want to drive him away?_

**_Yes!_** A voice in his head urged. **_He's your teacher! You're underage! And worse yet, he's a HE!_**

_Yes, but still… I like him._ Harry silently admitted to himself.

_**No you don't! No you don't! That would mean you're gay, which you most definitely are not! Harry, just lie and walk away!**_

"Oh…umm," Harry mumbled to stall for time as his hectic thoughts continued.

_But I **do** like him, and I don't want to drive him away._

_**Yes, you do! **_

_No, I don't! I'm going to tell him the truth!_

_**No! Harry, don't-**_

But the words tumbled out of him before he could finish his crazy thoughts. "Luna and I think it's best to just stay friends."

_**NO!**_

"Oh, really?" A predatory look danced across Draco's eyes before quickly being replaced by a mask of casualness.

_Oh, crap._ Harry thought to himself. He had not missed that look. He new that, without knowing it, his answer had been a blatant invitation for Draco to continue pursuing him.

"Yes, we just don't…connect in _that_ way," Harry mumbled, his cheeks burning warmer with each word.

"Oh, well that's just too bad. I'm sure you'll find someone who you can connect with in _that_ way soon… perhaps sooner than you think," Draco replied, muttering the last bit to.

Harry nodded, and quickly began walking away, hoping their awkward conversation had finally been brought to an end.

"Oh, Harry." Draco called. Harry stopped, his breath hitching a bit as he felt Draco's endearing presence walk up behind him, an enchanting warmth surrounding Harry's smaller form. Inwardly shaking his head, Harry breathed in, trying to calm himself and forget about the fluttery feelings Draco was, once again, forcing him to feel.

However, this caused Harry to accidentally catch a whiff of Draco's enticing aroma, filling his senses with the smell of peaceful water. The brunette found himself being dragged back into the memory of his detention with the teacher that currently stood behind him. Harry's eyes began to flutter, slightly, and the young teen fought desperately to keep control of his senses; a battle which he was quickly losing.

"You forgot something," Draco whispered into Harry's ear, the blonde's breath tickling the shell of Harry's ear just perfectly, sending an irrepressible shiver down Harry's spine. As the blonde walked away, he dropped a small, cold lump into Harry's hands.

Harry stared after Draco's receding form, stunned, before looking down to see a perfectly square package of mozzarella cheese. A small smile found its way onto Harry's soft, pink lips.

"Unbelievable," Harry quietly muttered to himself, shaking his head as he often did.

DHDHDH

"Potter! Weasley! Stop talking and get over here!" Oliver Wood, their team captain called with mild annoyance in his voice. Harry and Ron, blushing with embarrassment, jogged over to their captain.

"Now, come on, team! We've got to practice, practice, practice! This is my last year in high school, and I'll be damned if we don't win the championship!" At this, Harry and Ron sent frightened looks toward each other. Oliver could really get just a tiny bit obsessive when it came to sports. "We are going to work harder than we've ever worked before! Coach Hooch has already chosen Fred, George, Ron, Harry, and myself as starters, but that doesn't mean that everyone else can slack off!" Groans were heard from the other seven players. Oliver, however, simply ignored them and continued on with a boring speech, which Harry soon tuned out.

He didn't like listening to the boring speeches. Instead, Harry just liked rushing out onto the court and playing his best. He loved just letting his rush of adrenaline escape through his hands as he dribbled the ball across the court, never knowing what was going to happen next. At any moment, an opposing team member could jump out and try to steal the ball from him.

That was true basketball, in his mind; not listening t boring speeches, acting mechanically, and following a step-by-step plan like robots. There were certain plays which were necessary, of course, but Oliver sometimes drowned out the true fun of basketball by his compulsive need to win.

A ball was suddenly thrown in Harry's direction and, thanks to his perfect reflexes, he caught it. He quickly looked around to see that a practice game had begun.

DHDHDH

Harry's part of the team was down by one point. The score was 53-52 with nine seconds left in the game. Harry had the ball and was quickly being cornered by the other team. Time was his enemy, and everyone on the opposing team knew it. If they could just keep him busy for a few seconds, they would have the game in the bag.

They had formed a box around him, and with him being on the other side of the court, there was no way he could get to his basket in time. Seeing that Fred and George were playing on the opposing team, he knew there was also no way of throwing an air pass to one of his members.

Instead, he made a smart bounce pass to Ron, who had been waiting just a foot behind Fred, and quickly started running to the other side of the court.

Four seconds left and Ron kept running, bouncing that ball as quickly as he could.

Two seconds left, and Ron stopped for a split-second to take aim, before shooting. The time ran out just as his fingertips left the ball. Harry held his breath, looking at the ball as it made a beautiful arch. This may have been only a practice game, but every game worked Harry up just as much as the next, and he knew that this ball would determine the winner.

_Swish!_

The ball dove into the net perfectly. A brilliant smile broke out across Harry's face and he quickly ran over to Ron to give him a great hug, just as all the other team members did.

"Aw… isn't that adorable? Ickle Ronnikins looks just ever-so-loved!" Shouted Fred, with a chuckle.

"Yes, he does, doesn't he?" George added in.

"Oh, shut up!" Ron shouted back, although it came out slightly muffled, as he was still engulfed in a stifling group hug.

"Okay, break it up! That's enough!" Oliver called out, although he was smiling brightly as well, having been on Harry's team. "This was just a practice win. We can't get all excited over this. We've got to keep our minds on the bigger goal!"

"_Oliver!_" Several people whined.

"But good job, nonetheless."

"Yeah!" Everyone shouted jubilantly.

"Now, go on! Everyone head out to the showers and go home!"

DHDHDH

"Brilliant pass, Harry!" Ron exclaimed as they got dress in the locker rooms. Everyone had already showered and gone. Ron and Harry were the only ones still left in the locker rooms.

"Yeah, but your shot was awesome, Ron! You've never shot like that before." Harry replied, pulling on his shorts.

"I've been practicing." Ron answered, his face beaming with pride. "Listen, Harry, I've got to hurry home. My mom wanted me to help her with some cleaning around the house. Ugh! I mean, why can't Ginny just do that? But _no_… because Ginny is so busy with keeping her grades up; something that I don't spend nearly enough time on! But then-"

"Okay! I get it Ron! You don't have to play out the whole scene between you and your mom." Harry answered with a smile.

"Oh, sorry." Ron muttered, his ears turning faintly red. "Well, bye Harry."

"See you."

Harry stood up and grabbed his sports bag before grabbing his uniform as well, and stuffing it inside of his bag, along with the socks and boxers he had worn during practice. Then, he bent down and finished tying his shoelaces tightly in order to make sure that they would come loose. He then rose with his bag in his right hand, and gave the locker room a once over to make sure he hadn't left anything.

Seeing that he hadn't forgotten anything, he gave a quick glance in the direction of the mirror and smiled before heading out of the locker room. He always felt especially giddy after a good practice.

Harry opened the doors to leave the school and was immediately drowned in a sea of heat.

"Ugh." It was much too hot for the beginning of spring. Although Harry loved warm weather, too much heat made him feel like everything was dragging him down. He let out a soft, resigned sigh and began his long trek home.

By the time he reached his fifth step, however, he heard a familiar voice call out to him from somewhere. Confused, Harry looked around, wondering where the voice had come from. Suddenly, he spotted Draco looking out to him from the window of a car. (1)

"What are you doing in school so late?" Draco asked, curiously.

"Oh, I just came out of practice." Harry said, the sentence coming out in a part mumble. Their run-in at the grocery store still lingered in his mind.

"That's right. You play basketball, correct?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Oh, I heard a teacher mention it once in the teacher's lounge. Anyway, are you heading home?" Draco asked, abruptly changing the subject. Harry didn't notice, however, and continued on with the conversation; little by little, feeling less and less bashful around the blonde.

"Yeah."

"Where do you live?" Draco asked casually.

Not understanding where the conversation was headed, Harry continued to answer, completely oblivious. "On 73rd street."

"On 73rd street? That's really far from here, Harry; it's nearly 15 blocks away."

"Well, it's not that bad. I'm used to it already."

"Still, it's really just much too far. Get in."

Harry let out a nervous chuckle. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, Harry, I'm not. Open the door and get in. I'll drive you there."

"Oh, Draco, you really don't have to. It's no big deal. I don't want to bother you. I can just walk home." Harry replied anxiously, trying to weasel his way out of getting inside the car with this teacher who made him feel too many emotions inside.

"Harry, it's no bother at all; trust me. Besides, I can see that you're already practically melting out there in the heat." Draco insisted.

Suddenly, entering a car with a nice AC didn't seem so bad at all. Harry looked up at Draco's smiling face. There it was again; the gorgeous face that had made him accept the fact the he might be just a little bit gay, yesterday. The face that made him want to cross the boundaries between teacher and student; between adult and minor.

"Come on, Harry. Get in; I don't bite, you know." There was a faint string of amusement laced into Draco's voice.

Looking up into the searing sun, Harry felt his resistance cave in and he grabbed the door handle, opening it and pulling himself inside.

"Thanks," he muttered, once he'd buckled his belt and sat himself comfortable, letting the cool air from the AC flicker across his face welcomingly.

"Don't mention it." Draco replied, and he began driving.

"So you have practice on Mondays?" Draco asked conversationally.

"Yeah, this was the first practice of the season. We're going to have practice on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. And we're going to have games on Wednesdays and Fridays."

"Wow, you're pretty booked, then, aren't you."

"Mm-hmm. But it sucks- I mean stinks." Harry corrected himself, remembering that he was with a teacher, even if it was Draco.

"And why is that?" Draco asked, ignoring Harry's small slip-up. "Don't you like basketball?"

"Oh, I love basketball; that's not the problem. The problem is that because we're busy everyday after school, we can't get any detentions at all or we're not allowed to go to practice or a game, depending on which day or days we get detention on."

"So? That shouldn't be a problem with you. You're a great kid." Draco said, looking away from the road, briefly, to give Harry an encouraging smile.

"Well, maybe," Harry agreed, a small blush crawling across his cheeks and up his neck. "But that doesn't matter when it comes to Snape. He hates basketball and he always tries to give the basketball players detention whenever he can; especially on game days."

"Severus is such a grouch," Draco said, snickering. Then, seeing Harry's eyes go wide with astonishment, he asked, "What is it?"

"It's just, I never heard any teacher actually say that about Snape...aloud." Harry admitted.

"Well, that's just because they have to look like all the teachers are wonderful friends with each other. But we're outside of school now, so I'm allowed to say whatever I want." Draco answered, smiling.

Harry laughed. "Well, then am I allowed to say whatever I want to say about him, too?"

"I'd be insulted if you didn't."

"Well, he's an evil insect-like devil with a huge hook for a nose and a horribly painful shovel lodged up his rear end." Harry voiced aloud, a slight glare marring his features at just the thought of his evil biology teacher.

Draco let out a hardy laugh, which then set Harry off laughing as well. He couldn't believe he had just said that to a teacher, but with Draco, it just felt so easy to be yourself.

"Well, that's quite a colorful description." Draco commented after he had gotten his laughing under control.

"It's the truth, is what it is."

"You really, are something special, Harry."

Suddenly, the ease Harry had felt with Draco slowly dissipated and he now felt himself enveloped in a feeling of tension. He looked down, into his lap, thinking of what to do next. He couldn't think of anything, though, and he just stayed quiet for the rest of the ride until Draco pulled the car to a stop.

"This is 73rd street. Is your house around here?" Draco asked.

Lifting his head to look out the front window, Harry nodded. "It's just there, that one with the blue shutters." As he raised his hand to open the door, he felt Dracos' hand gently cup his shoulder.

"If you ever need another ride after school, just let me know, alright?"

Harry nodded and moved to leave the car again, but was once again stopped as Draco squeezed his shoulder just ever so slightly.

"Harry," Draco said.

"Yes?"

Seeing that Harry wasn't going to willingly lift his head to look at him anytime soon, Draco took the initiative and gently grabbed Harry's chin, turning the young brunette's face to look at him.

"You don't have to be scared of me. I'm not going to hurt you."

"I know." Harry whispered quietly.

"You should follow your instincts. Do what you feel is right; not what everyone else would think is right."

Their eyes were glued to each other, and for a moment, Harry could think of nothing but Draco; for many more moments, he could think of nothing but Draco. And after several more moments, Harry followed Draco's words like the bible and did what he'd been aching to do ever since that detention: he leaned in.

The kiss felt even more wonderful than the last; perhaps because Harry knew that he was the one to initiate it, or perhaps because he was finally doing it with a clear conscience: he could willingly admit that even if he wasn't totally gay, he was at least bisexual, and he definitely had a strong attraction to his teacher. Whichever the true reason was didn't matter.

Harry was enjoying this carefree kiss. He didn't care if once he stepped out of the car, reality came crashing down on him. Right now, he was living in the moment, and the moment was a very beautiful one, indeed.

Draco gave Harry's lips and encouraging lick, and Harry quickly opened up, allowing him free entrance. The brunette kissed back eagerly, wanting to enjoy this as much as possible. He felt Draco's hand slip to the back of his neck, and his fingers entangle themselves into Harry's messy locks.

Harry wanted the same. He wanted to know just how silky Draco's hair felt. Without a second of hesitation, he wrapped his arms around Draco, and let his fingers brush through Draco's divine locks of hair.

Soon, however, much too soon for Harry, Draco pulled away, breathing irregularly from the long kiss.

"What is it?" Harry asked, through small gasps of air.

"We're right in the middle of the public eye, Harry. I feel your eagerness as well, Harry, but we've got to act with caution."

Harry nodded in understanding, a slight frown making its way onto his lips.

It was quickly swept away, though, as Draco gave him another chaste peck on the lips.

"Don't be sad, Harry. I promise this doesn't have to be our last kiss if you don't want it to be."

"I don't. I want this to happen again," Harry answered, ignoring the ever-occurring blush that always made a visit at the most inopportune moments.

"Then it will, Harry. You're too beautiful to let go." Draco whispered, before kissing Harry one last time, and opening the door for him. "You should go, now; before your parents get worried about your whereabouts."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, stepping out of the car. He closed the door and stepped back as Draco drove away.

Walking up the block to his home, Harry let out a nervous sigh he hadn't known he'd been holding in. He felt exhilarated and worried at the same time. He felt more alive than ever, but very close to the end. He felt dread and anticipation.

There were so many reasons why he shouldn't have done what he did, but so many reasons why he was right to do what he did.

"Honey, are you alright?" Lily asked, as she saw her son's emotion-ridden face enter through the door.

"Yeah, just tired. Practice was real tough."

"Oh, alright then. Go take a nap; I'll call you when dinner's ready."

"Mm-hmm. Okay, Mom."

Harry dragged his feet up the stairs and into his room, letting himself fall onto the bed when he'd walked close enough to it.

_What just happened?_ Harry thought to himself.

He knew that there were so many things wrong with what he had engaged in, but he just couldn't bring himself to regret any of it.

_So… I'm guessing this means that I'm gay…. Or bisexual. Whichever._ Hethought to himself._ Well, I guess I'm okay with that._

Now the only problem was that Draco was an adult, and his teacher, while Harry was a minor and his students. What he was doing was against the law.

Harry's eyes went wide with realization.

_Holy crap! I'm a criminal!_

**AN:**

I didn't say what kind of car Draco drove because I know that everyone always pictures Draco in some very expensive and extravagant luxury car, but you have to remember that Draco is just a teacher in my story. And I also never mentioned whether he came from a rich background or not. So although I'm not saying he's poor or anything, he's not gloriously rich, either. I'd say he's a well-off upper middle-class. But I know it would disappoint everyone if I said Draco drove any other car than some wonderful BMW or something along those lines, so I just left it out altogether. Sorry, you guys. :-(

I hope you guys liked this chapter, not much happening…pretty much the same thing throughout the whole chapter, but hey! There was a lot of DH action, right? Just as I promised! I know that Harry has now admitted that he's gay and that he likes Draco, but don't think that the plot is over! Please don't stop reading because you think, "Oh, they're together. There's nothing more to read." It would just kill me if I stopped getting reviews. I promise that there is much more action to come.

Remember how I said rumors were going to start and such? Well, after a bit more DH action, I'm going to have someone accuse them of dating each other, and of course, this is going to create lots of chaos. After that, I'll have to work out some more stuff, but if you have any suggestions, please let me know! I'd love to add them into my story. D

Thanks for reading! Sorry for the long AN. Please review!

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	9. Flirtations?

Sorry, sorry! How long has it been? A month? I'm sorry. I have plenty of colorful excuses, but I'm starting to get the impression that you guys don't particularly like my excuses:p, so I'll just move along.

Alright, so there are a few things I wanted to clear up with you guys.

One: I realize how the whole grocery store scene must have seemed to you, but it really was just a coincidence. Draco is NOT a psycho stalker.

Two: A few if you mentioned that you wanted more of Draco's POV. I guess I just left it out because it's easier for me to write Harry's POV, but I will try to compromise and put in some more of Draco's side. All I ask is that you don't kill me if it's not written to perfection. But it probably won't be in this chapter since I already have it all planned out. In the next chapter, though. I'll try my very, very hardest to put in more of Draco's POV. I can already imagine how I'll fit it in. But you'll have to wait until the next chapter for that. :-)

Three: I was wrong. You guys were right about Harry not being a criminal. I guess I just wasn't thinking and I made a mistake. However, I can't very well just go back and change the story, so I'm just going to go along with it, because I also sort of like the idea of Harry thinking he's a criminal. :) If you guys like, though, I'll have Hermione let him know he's not a criminal during this chapter.

Okay, then. Now that I've gotten all that out of the way, I can move on and start with the story!

Chapter: 9

Flirtations?

Trumpets blared, drums thundered, and cymbals blasted as the Malkin High basketball players made their way onto the gymnasium court, bouncing the basket balls with loud thumps, and making practice shots.

The crowd roared with support, calling out several names with excitement. Harry's name seemed to be one of the more favored ones.

"Go, Harry!" Harry looked up at the crowd with an unsuppressed smile dancing across his face. Normally he didn't fancy a lot of attention, but the excitement of the basketball games always got his adrenaline pumping so fast and so hard that nothing could bring him down.

He turned and threw a shot, admiring the perfect spin as it left the tips of his fingers and flew into the basket, swift as an eagle.

Just as he jogged forward to take the ball back, he heard loud, thumping steps from the other side of the court, and promptly rolled his eyes. The Wailem High School players: big and rough, but no skill whatsoever. Every year, they put up a mean, rough show, only to be utterly ashamed as Malkin High beat them with effortless ease.

This would be an easy win for sure.

Suddenly, the referees blew their whistles and both teams stopped dribbling and huddled up to their coaches. Mr. Rabble smiled at all the team players with a face that showed his obvious confidence. "We don't have to worry too badly about the Wailem team, so just have fun. Go easy on them with Play 1."

"But coach," Oliver called in protest. "You never know what could happen. We need to give them our all and-"

"Oliver, you're a great player; that's why I chose you to be captain. But the truth is, you worry way too much. Let's just have a nice game. We can make sure that everyone gets a turn to play tonight. We'll save the hard stuff for the championships."

Oliver nodded reluctantly, although he quietly muttered, "That is, if we even get to the championships this year with the dumb tactics we're using."

Harry wondered if Coach Rabble had heard, but if he had, he didn't show it.

The whistle blew for the players to go to the court and start the game, and Coach Rabble quickly called out names. "Theodore, Jeffrey, Thomas, Justin, and Terri, you're in."

The players quickly ran onto the court as the referees looked to them with impatience, while Harry took a seat on the bench with a sigh. He always hated the first few games of the season. They always started out by playing easy teams, and so, the coach would put in the not-so-great players to give them an opportunity to play, since chances were, they wouldn't be playing in any of the harder games of the season, as there was no way Coach Rabble would let them lose.

That wasn't to say that he didn't like letting other players play – he just really enjoyed playing the game, himself.

At least he could comfort himself with the knowledge that they would win the game.

DHDHDH

Wailem made another shot, bringing the score to 32-12. The crowd of Malkin supporters let out angry boos and shouts. A gruff-looking boy tried for another shot, but missed, and Justin ran for the rebound. Grabbing the ball, he dribbled to the other side of the court, but just as he went for a shot, the whistle blew, marking half-time.

"What the heck are you guys doing out there!" Coach Rabble shouted as the boys ran up to him. "This is the easiest game you'll get all season! If we can't beat them, we won't be anyone! The only person actually hustling out there was Justin!" The four other boys looked down in shame, while Justin tried to stop his face from beaming so happily at the somewhat good compliment. "All of you are out for the second half! Now, Oliv-"

"But, coach. I though you said-" Justin protested.

"I know what I said, Justin, and I meant it. You played a good game, but it looks like you could use a breather. Besides, we're going to need to play our very best to beat these guys, now. They're feeling much too pompous at the moment."

Justin nodded in understanding, but Harry could tell he still didn't agree with the idea.

"Now, Oliver, Fred, George, Harry, and Ron, you're in. You guys had better win this thing or we'll be practicing till midnight from now on!" The boys all shared quick fright-filled glances before huddling together, sticking their hands in, and shouting, "Team-work!" just as the whistle for the start of the third quarter sounded.

Harry eagerly jogged onto the court, taking a quick glance up to look for the smiling faces of his parents. They never missed a single game. His eyes never reach his parents, however, as they immediately froze at the sight of Draco. Smiling down at him encouragingly, Draco gave a quick wink. Harry gulped loudly, trying to will away the threatening blush.

"Harry, get over here!"

The brunette let out a surprised gasp as he remembered the game. He jogged into the center and watched as the referee threw the ball into the air, and pushing himself into gear as Ron slapped the ball to Oliver.

He tried to run along with the game and keep in tune, but his mind just kept wandering back to Draco, knowing that Draco was watching him. He suddenly felt completely self-conscious. What if he made a fool of himself? What if he tripped? What if he ran weird, like that Melvin guy from his third period class?

Suddenly, a ball hit Harry in the very center of his forehead and bounced off, falling into the hands of a Wailem High player, who promptly bounced it over to his side of the court and made a swift shot.

"What are you doing, Harry!" Coach Rabble shouted at him.

_OMG! What if Draco saw that?_ Harry thought to himself, his eyes growing as wide as the basketball hoops, themselves.

DHDHDH

A few more horribly humiliating events later, and the third quarter was brought to an end. Harry miserably made his way over to the rest of the team with his head hanging low.

"I don't know what is going on out here tonight, but you guys, quite frankly, are playing horribly! As clichéd as this sounds, my bloody grandmother could play better than you! Harry, I don't know what is wrong with you, tonight! I know you can do better than this. You're one of my better players, and you know I want to make you captain next year, but I can't if you keep playing like this. It is utter crap! Now, I don't know what's bothering you, but whatever it is, get over it and play this game! One more screw-up, and I'm going to have to pull you out for good."

"Yes, Coach," Harry mumbled, feeling worse than ever after that speech.

"I'm going to need more emotion than that if I'm going to let you back in the game."

"I'll play better, I promise." This time, he looked into Coach Rabble's eyes, determination glinting within his own.

"Good, that's what I like to hear. Now get back in there, and win!"

Harry followed the other four players onto the court and forced his mind to forget about Draco. This was basketball, his favorite sport, and there was no way he was going to lose.

DHDHDH

Making a quick steal, Harry took the ball into his own hands and dribbled down the court. He was completely boxed-in by the other players. Growling angrily, he stood still, grabbing hold of the ball and looked up at the clock.

There were seven seconds left, with the score at 52-53, in favor of Wailem High. He looked around eagerly for a possible pass, but he was cornered from all sides, and Fred, George, Oliver, and Ron were all buys trying to move the Wailem High players out of the way without making a foul. Suddenly, he saw his opportunity at the same time as Ron.

Quickly moving behind a Wailem team member in a number nine jersey, he held out his arms, ready for Harry's next move. With five seconds left, Harry bounced the ball between Jersey Number Nine's carelessly open legs, efficiently passing it to Ron, who ran with all his speed.

Three seconds were left in the game as Ron's shot went smoothly into the basket. Fred ran for the rebound and passed it to George who held onto it for the last second of the game, ensuring their win.

"Yeah!" Harry shouted, soon followed by a loud, "Wahoo!" from Ron and a few crazy sounds made by the twins, which everyone was used to by now, and so they were ignored.

Everyone came together, happily, except for Oliver who complained, "There is absolutely nothing to be happy about! We came much too close to losing at the very first game! We need much more work! We need-"

"Ah, stop being such a prude," Fred interjected, with George nodding in agreement, along with the rest of the team. Oliver simply glared before letting out a small smile. Even he couldn't entirely ignore the happiness of a win.

DHDHDH

After the team had come out of the locker rooms, changed and not quite so sweaty, Harry headed out to meet up with his parents, and get a ride home. He had to stop, though, as he took in the display before him: Draco was chatting it up with his parents.

_This is not happening,_ Harry thought to himself as he turned back around, deciding that if he walked back into the lockers, and then came back after a few minutes, the whole thing would disappear. But he was given no such luck as Lily called out to him.

"Honey, great game out there!"

"Yeah, Sport," James interjected. "I mean, it was weird how you started off a bit lost, but you played spectacularly during the fourth quarter."

Turning back around to face his parents, he answered with a quick nod, making sure to avoid any eye contact with Draco. He could not believe that Draco, his co-criminal, was speaking with his parents, outright!

"It was a great game, Harry." Draco said, appraisingly.

"Oh, umm…thanks." Harry had promised himself to be less bashful around Draco, but how in the name of God was he supposed to do that with his parents right in front of them!

"You know, Draco tells us that you're a wonderful writer." Lily said in a friendly manner.

"Yes, he really is." Draco agreed.

"Uh…thanks. Listen, Mum, can we go home. I'm really tired." Harry said, searching for an excuse to get out of this particularly embarrassing ordeal.

"Harry!" James said in a surprised voice. It was, after all, quite rude of him to say such a thing when they were trying to have a conversation with his literature teacher.

"It's fine," Draco said good-naturedly, trying to hide his amusement at Harry's actions.

"But we were having such a wonderful conversation. You know, I always knew Harry had a talent for writing. When he was around seven, he used to write me little poems about everything. He even wrote me one about his first crush and-"

"Mum," Harry whined, a blush spread from the center of his nose and across his cheeks.

"I can see that Harry is getting quite embarrassed. Maybe we could pick this conversation up another day." Harry silently thanked Draco for his leave.

"Well, alright. It was a pleasure speaking with you." Lily smiled.

"Oh, but the pleasure was all mine," Draco said, gracefully taking Lily's right hand and placing a gentle, yet quick kiss on the back. "Good-bye."

DHDHDH

On the drive home, James voiced out his thoughts.

"I don't like that Malfoy."

"Why?" Lily asked, completely taken by surprise.

"He was bloody flirting with you right in front of me!"

"Oh, don't be so paranoid!"

"I'm not being…"

_Yeah, right, _Harry thought to himself, drowning out his parents' argument. _If they only knew._ Harry thought, shaking his head to himself. _There's no way he would like my mum. He's gay…he likes me…but he could bi. No…_ Suddenly, Harry was filled with doubt. _He is gay, isn't he? He doesn't really like my mum… does he?_

DHDHDH

"Hey, Hermione?" Harry asked, as he sat down to eat his lunch that Thursday afternoon.

"Yes?" Hermione inquired, twisting her soda cap open with a napkin so the edges wouldn't cut into the palm of her hand.

"Could a person go to jail for dating someone of a different age?" Harry's question was said in a nonchalant voice as he pretended to be interested in his burger, turning it this way and that, to look at it from different angles.

"Well, no, not necessarily. Ron is 17, but I'm still 16, and we're dating." Hermione replied, laying the cap on her tray and taking a swig from her soda.

"Yeah, but I mean, if it's a big age difference." Harry clarified, now busying himself with opening a packet of ketchup, his voice completely void of any emotion, though the light blush that timidly crawled it's way up from the depths of his collar-covered neck.

"Just as long as they are both either adults or both minors, it's fine."

"But what if they weren't both the same? What if one of them was an adult, while the other was a minor?"

"Why do you ask?" Hermione questioned, setting down her bottle of soda to stare at Harry with a suspicious look.

"Lord, Hermione. I was only asking. I saw this thing on the news the other day and I was just wondering how all of that worked, but if you don't want me to know, I guess that's alright." He shrugged and put his head down to really stare at the perfectly spread layer of ketchup across his burger. He had to force himself to push away the urge to smile hugely at his easy and quick lie. He couldn't remember a time when he had been able to come up with a good fib that quickly. The amazement was interrupted, however, as Hermione answered his previous question, obviously having fallen for the bait.

"Oh, that's wonderful! It's great to know that you're becoming interested in the news of the world. Well, you see, the adult in the relation would be sent to jail if he or she was caught, due to the fact that because they are older, they should have the common sense to stay out of that sort of relationship. But the minor wouldn't be punished at all since the public sees us as 'not smart enough to make common sense decisions.'" Hermione said the last part with an accompanied roll of the eyes. "Nonsense if you tell me. I say, if the minor is in the relationship, willingly, they should be equally punished."

"But, what if they really like each other?" Harry asked, not agreeing with this law at all, although he did think to himself, _At least I'm not a criminal_, with an inward sigh of relief.

"It doesn't matter. If they truly do feel strongly for each other, they should be able to wait a few years until they are both adults." Hermione replied, matter-of-factly, before turning back to the rest of her lunch, thoroughly deeming the conversation over.

DHDHDH

Harry spent his eighth period refusing to look at Draco. He was still slightly upset with Draco for having had that horrible "chat" with his parents. It was downright embarrassing. And to just think that while his parents were talking up a good time with his teacher, they had no idea that Draco was actually sort of dating their son. _Well, not actually dating._ Harry thought to himself. _We'll never really get to date. Or at least, not for another two years, according to Hermione._

This thought dampened Harry's mood very much so, and he spent the rest of the period lost in thought, until he went to ninth period, and then continued to lose himself in his train of thoughts once again.

DHDHDH

He knocked lightly on the door, waiting for Draco's invitation to come in. He had quickly escaped from Ron and Hermione with a hastily made up excuse about wanting to get extra help with his homework, saying that he hadn't quite understood what the assignment was, although Hermione had openly protested. She's argued that she could help Harry herself, but he'd shook his head, lying that he wouldn't have wanted to impose on her.

"Come in," Draco said, never looking up to see who was at the door.

Harry stepped in, closing the door behind him, and walking up to Draco's desk.

"Hi," the brunette teen greeted, slightly nervous, although he was still trying to get over his shy demeanor around Draco.

"Oh, Harry, hi." Draco said, looking up from his papers with a wide grin. "How are you?"

"Good, I guess."

Draco's grin wavered slightly as he spoke. "You seemed to be avoiding me in class, today. Is something wrong?"

"Erm…well, not really, but I just thought that it was really embarrassing…you speaking with my parents yesterday."

"Oh, I'm sorry." He answered, although he didn't look very sorry at all, Harry noticed. "It's just that I was actually waiting for you to give you a quick congratulations and then I saw your father, who looked exactly like you, and I just had to introduce myself. You're mother told me many baby stories about you," Draco said, ending with a slight chuckle. He seemed to have found the entire episode quite amusing.

"Umm…about that… can I ask you something?" Harry began, timidly.

"Of course."

"Well, see, I mean, it's going to sound really stupid, but… well, I honestly hadn't even thought anything of it, but… Okay, so when we were driving back home, my dad said that you were… well, that you were flirting with my mom." Harry finally look at Draco as he finished, to see an astonished look on the blonde's face. "You weren't, were you?"

Draco thought the idea was so ridiculous he wanted to laugh outright, but he knew that this answer was very important to Harry, and so he only rolled his eyes and grabbed Harry into a warm embrace. "Of course I wasn't. You're dad just seems to be a bit of the jealous type, is all. Though I can't say that I'm not the same."

Harry stiffened slightly, and Draco shook his head. "I'm joking."

"Oh," Harry said, sighing with relief and relaxing into the embrace.

Suddenly, Draco pulled away from Harry, though he kept a hold on his shoulders, and look Harry straight in the eye. "I've been thinking about you. This whole time I've been much too absorbed with myself: What I wanted; what I needed, but after that afternoon in the car, I started thinking about how all this must seem to you. It's a bit hectic for me, but I can't even begin to imagine how crazed you must feel. I want you to know that I'm not pressuring you into anything. I feel very strongly for you, Harry, but if you don't want this, you don't have to do this. You're young and full of life; if you want to see someone else, don't let me stop you."

Harry smiled gratefully. He stretched out his arm and brushed a loose lock of blonde hair behind Draco's ear before leaning in for a light kiss, and then pulling away to rest his face in the crook of the blonde's neck. "I want this, Draco. I don't want to see anyone else. I want you."

Draco smiled and pressed a kiss on the top of Harry's head. Suddenly feeling very old from that action, which his own mother used to do to him, the blonde grimaced and pulled Harry's face up to give him a proper, thorough kiss.

When they pulled apart from each other again, Harry was flushed and slightly breathless.

"You know," Harry said, a sly grin making its way onto his lips. "I know this is a bit scary for me sometimes, but really, you're the only one who would get in trouble."

"Oh, is that so?" Draco asked, an amused grin adorning his own lips.

"Yes, Hermione told me so. Since you're the adult, it's your responsibility to have the common sense that I, a poor, innocent minor, lack." Harry replied, ending with a very dramatic pout at his supposed naivety as a minor.

Harry smiled as Draco laughed at his comment. Then, giving a worried glance at the door window, Harry said, "I'd better get going," and begin to get up, before he was spontaneously pulled down for another chaste kiss.

"Bye." Draco said, as he finally let go.

"Bye, Draco," Harry replied, walking out the door, a small smile still on his face.

**AN:**

Sorry, sorry. Very OOC Draco, I know. And I know a lot was just about the game, and the chapter was a bit shorter than usual. Also, I don't know about you, but it sort of seemed as the chapter started out good, and then ended sort of boring and meaningless. At least there's no cliffhanger. That's usually when authors go into writer's block, but lucky for you guys, I've already got the next chapter planned out. Woohoo! Well, in my head, I'm thinking of a dull…woohoo…I don't know why, but I'm feeling sort of, not sad but just…dull at the moment. Hmm…maybe it's because I'm hungry, and because I know I have a whole lot of homework to look forward to, tonight. Ugh. Anyway, sorry about the dull ending to this chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it for the most part. Not too much action, but maybe you found the meeting between Draco and Harry's parents a bit interesting. Well, please review. Toodles.

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	10. Could it be? Is it Truly Over?

Argh, no excuses or notes or (excuse my bad grammar) Nuthin! I'm going straight to the story. You guys have waited much too long!

Chapter: 10

Could it be? Is it Truly Over?

_Knock, knock. _

Draco and Harry quickly broke apart from their kiss as Professor Snape walked into the room.

"…so, I was thinking that you should do just a little bit of extra credit to raise your grade to an A+. I mean, if you going to start something, you may as well go the whole way." Draco improvised with ease, as if they'd been speaking the entire time.

"Erm…yes. I think you're right." Harry said, still trying to hide the slight flush in his cheeks.

"Oh, hello, Severus. I didn't hear you come in." Draco said, a wide smile plastered on his face.

"I knocked." Severus answered, in a monotone voice.

"Well, I was speaking with Harry. I guess I just didn't hear it."

"I'm sure," was the biology professor's response, a slightly suspicious glare resting atop the surface of his onyx black eyes. Draco simply continued to smile amiably towards Severus, while Harry decided to play a silent staring contest with his shoelaces, neither knowing what to say next.

"Well, then," Severus began again. "Principle Dumbledore simply wanted me to ask if you would be volunteering for next Friday."

Harry vaguely wondered to himself what it was the Draco would be volunteering for as Draco replied with a grin and answered, "Of course."

"Very well, then." And Severus left with a curt nod. Harry couldn't help but smile a little at how much Severus had looked like a butler of sorts at that very moment, before breaking into bouts of laughter when he realized just what Severus had nearly caught them doing.

"Oh my God! Do you realize how close that was!"

"Yes," Draco said, grimacing slightly and stretching out his jaw.

Harry tilted his head and gave Draco a confused look. "What are you doing?"

"Putting on such a hugely fake smile every time Severus comes in isn't exactly the easiest of jobs." Another grimace, and he continued. "It's just so out of character for me. But alas, Harry my love, I must do this if I am to make sure we are never taken away!" Draco declared dramatically, and subsequently continued to pull Harry back into his arms and place what would have been a long, passionate kiss.

But Harry pulled away slightly, with an apologetic look to his face. "Sorry, but I told Hermione that I just wanted to have a quick word with you about last night's homework assignment to make sure I did it correctly, and that I would then meet up with her at lunch. If we keep this up any longer, I'll still be here when the bell rings."

Draco gave a long, melodramatic sigh, as if wallowing in complete and utter despair. "Well, is you absolutely must leave me-"

"Yes, I must." Harry cut in, giving Draco a peck and then pulling out completely, from his embrace. "And do me a favor," Harry added, as he made his way to the door. "Keep the dramatics to a minimum. It really doesn't suit you all that well, if you ask me." And then he was gone, leaving a look of indignation on Draco's face.

DHDHDH

Things had gotten undeniably better between Draco and himself, Harry thought, as he made his way down the hall towards the cafeteria. Harry would make a small excuse to leave his friends every once in a while, and catch up with Draco for a quick snog, and Draco would keep him after class to "talk about his grades".

Of course, they didn't always just kiss. Sometimes they just talked, enjoying each other's company. Harry could feel little butterflies bubbling up inside of him. Draco just always made him feel so utterly perfect. He couldn't deny the fact that just the thought of Draco brought a smile to his lips.

The young brunette felt a stronger connection between himself and Draco. It was almost as if nothing could ever go wrong. No one suspected a single thing, as far as Harry was concerned, and Draco was just better than words could describe.

Harry couldn't recall ever having felt so complete in his entire life. Had he always been attracted to guys, or was Draco just the one special guy that stood out from the rest? Harry couldn't tell. He didn't even know if he was still attracted to girls anymore. All he knew was that his world revolved completely around Draco. It was a bit obsessive, the youth admitted to himself, but he simply couldn't help it.

_I guess this is what a person's first love feels like,_ he silently thought to himself, with an inward sigh of content. Harry's footsteps suddenly halted and gave a look of shock. What was wrong with him! He might possibly be gay, (Who knew. He could still be bisexual.) but he was most certainly not a girl. He had to stop this infatuation. It was alright to like Draco, but Harry feared he might be just a little over his head.

With a quick shake of his head, he continued walking, this time, concentrated on non-Draco thoughts, though images kept jumping into his head. Images of Draco's eyes, and lips, and body and...

"Harry! What took you so long? Lunch is nearly over," came Hermione's chastising tone.

"Oh, sorry. Draco was started talking to me about some extra credit I could do so that I could make sure to get an A+"... well, it wasn't exactly a total lie.

Hermione gasped. "Extra credit! Why didn't he tell me about this? I'd better go right over and see him about-"

"Hermione, Hermione! Relax. You're already guaranteed and extra credit." Ron said, albeit with a slightly muffled voice, as he was currently chewing around a sandwich.

"Well, you never know. I think maybe I should just-"

"Ron's right, Hermione. Besides, I'm not going to do it anyway."

"Oh, but you should!"

"No, I'm okay with an A. Besides, I'm erm... busy."

"Busy? Busy with what?" Hermione asked curiously.

Harry froze for a second. He hadn't actually thought about what he was going to say. The youth had been around his blond teacher for so long now, that he'd noticed the way the older man lied with such ease, and decided to try out for himself. However, Harry now realized that wasn't exactly the best way for him to go about dealing with things.

_Note to Self, _Harry thought mutely, _Think before you speak. You suck at lying._

"Oh, I know why." Ron said teasingly, waggling his brows, and giving Harry a friendly nudge with his elbow. "It's because of you-know-what, isn't it?"

"What?" Both Hermione and Harry asked at the same time. Thankfully, Hermione has spoken more loudly, and so Ron had only heard her ask. This was a good thing. Now Ron could answer both Hermione and Harry in one, and Harry could just pretend he had known all along.

_I'm too good, _Harry thought to himself, smugly.

"It's a guy's thing, Hermione. We can't tell you. It'll ruin the surprise."

_What? No! Ruin the surprise! Ruin it, I tell you!_ Harry's inner voice demanded desperately.

"Oh, come on, Ron. Don't be so immature. Just tell me." Hermione said.

_Yes, tell her, Ron. Tell her. _

"Nope. You'll just have to wait along with all the other girls."

"Oh, fine. I'll just find out on my own, then." Hermione replied stubbornly.

"You do that," Ron replied, with a confident smile.

Hermione simply glared.

_BRING! BRING!_

"Oh, crap." Harry moaned, as the end of lunch bell rang.

"It's your own fault for taking so long, Harry. I told you…"

Sometimes Harry just felt like taking Hermione's head and smashing it open like a walnut. But of course, he couldn't. It was illegal, as so many things in life were. Sometimes the law was just plain unfair, Harry thought to himself. But there was nothing to do about that now. He didn't particularly feel like going to court and fighting these laws at the moment.

So instead, he settled for a long sigh, as he ignored the protesting growls of his empty stomach.

DHDHDH

"Harry! What is going on with you?" Coach Rabble shouted.

The youth did not answer. Instead, he continued to stand in the middle of the court, hunched over, with his hands on his knees breathing in and out, and trying to regain some energy.

"Coach," Ron volunteered to answer for Harry. "He didn't have lunch."

"And why the hell not?" Coach Rabble hated when his team members did anything to jeopardize their games or practices.

"Well," Ron began, thinking quickly. "He was talking with a teacher about his grades. He wanted to make sure he was passing, that way he could be sure he wouldn't be kicked off the team without warning or anything like that."

_It's a good thing Ron's better at lying, than I am. _Harry thought to himself. Although Ron had believed that Harry was speaking to Draco about his grades, Ron knew that there was no way Harry was failing in any of his classes. However, Coach Rabble didn't know that.

The middle-aged man seemed to accept this answer, believing that Harry has been, ultimately, looking out for the team's best, so he let out a quick sigh and said in slight resignation, "Alright, Harry. I'll give you a break this time, but this is the only break you get. Now go sit over on the bench and wait till practice is over. You may not be playing on the court, but you can still watch with me and look for any possible improvements."

"Thanks, Coach."

DHDHDH

"Harry and I were watching you guys. You made terrible mistakes every other minute! Terry's jump-shot was completely off, today! Right, Harry?" The Coach was chastising the team after bringing them in from practice. Asking Harry for his opinion, however, was about as beneficial as talking to a brick-wall though.

"Erm … yeah. Yeah, coach." Harry stuttered. He hadn't paid an ounce of attention throughout the entire game. Instead, he'd been too busy trying to push away the hunger that still clung to him just ever-so stubbornly. Coach Rabble, luckily, didn't seem to notice.

"…Wouldn't you agree, Harry?"

_Oh, God. Is he still talking? _Harry inwardly moaned to himself.

Pushing away another growl of his stomach, he nodded his head, feigning enthusiasm. "Definitely, Coach. Definitely."

Fred and George could not be fooled, though. They noted Harry's lack of attention and struggled to muffle their bouts of laughter. Harry, in turn, merely glared at them.

DHDHDH

"Finally!" Harry exclaimed, as they walked into the lockers. "I thought he would never end his ranting!" Ron laughed, but Harry was too hungry to laugh along. He wasted no time in taking his bag and heading towards the exit.

_Forget the shower,_ he thought to himself. _I'll take one at home. Once I have sufficiently replenished my tired body with food._ He smiled at the thought.

Opening the door, he already has his mind going through a list of possible options for food to gorge out on, when he heard Ron ask Oliver, "So who are you asking to the dance?"

_Dance!_ Harry's mind shouted. _What dance!_

"Oh, no," Harry quietly whispered to himself. This could not be happening. Harry could not believe it. Everything had been going perfectly, and now this.

"I'm not sure yet. Probably Mary-Anne. And of course, you'll be asking Hermione. What about Harry? Do you know who he's asking?"

Harry froze as he waited for the response.

"I'm not sure. Harry's been sort of weird lately. I don't want to say distant, but he's been well, a little…distracted. Yes, that's the word. Distracted." Ron replied.

"How so?"

"Oh, I don't know, but he's always busy with out literature teacher, Draco. Always making sure his grades are perfect and stuff. I don't understand it."

"Maybe he's just really trying to raise all his grades."

"That's what I'd thought at first, too. But he only cares about literature and nothing else. It's odd. He's like, bloody obsessed with it."

There was no response from Oliver. Harry pictured the team captain probably giving a shrug in response. After another moment's silence, Ron added, "I don't know what it is, but something strange is definitely going on between those two."

Then, Harry heard footsteps coming in his direction, and he quickly turned to make his leave, running at break-neck speed. This could definitely be a problem.

DHDHDH

Harry sat on his bed, thinking. He hadn't even thought that Ron had noticed his absence all that much. Ron had always seemed so nonchalant about it every time Harry had made a quick excuse to leave. But obviously, that was not the case. Now he knew that Ron was suspicious.

He'd had a bit of dread, wondering about how he was going to make up an excuse for not asking anyone out to the dance. He didn't want to, after all. He was dating Draco. But now he had to.

And speaking of which, how had Draco not known about the dance. The faculty was always notified of such events ahead of time; before any of the students. Unless… unless Draco had known. Unless Draco had known all along and simply hadn't told Harry.

Of course! That's what Snape had been talking about when he'd asked Draco if he'd been willing to volunteer. And Draco had answered him, right in front of Harry, and still, he had said nothing to the young brunette!

Suddenly, Harry wasn't upset about dealing with the dance; he was angry at Draco; angry because Draco had not told Harry about this ahead of time. They should have talked about it together, to come to a decision on what to do.

Harry let out a growl of frustration and anger. Why hadn't Draco told him?

Well, whatever the answer, he would find out tomorrow.

DHDHDH

At 7:45 am, Harry was waiting inside Draco's classroom. He had arrived early, so that he wouldn't have to make any more excuses for Ron and Hermione. They were curious enough as it was, already. He would have a quick talk with Draco, and then head outside, and wait for his friends to arrive.

Five minutes ticked away before Draco finally walked into the classroom, acquiring a look of surprise as his eyes rested upon Harry.

"Harry, what are you doing here?"

"Why didn't you tell me about the dance?" Harry didn't feel like cutting around any corners. He was going to cut straight to the point and get the answer as straight-forward as possible.

"Oh, that." Draco said, setting his briefcase onto his desk, twiddling with it.

"Yes, 'Oh that'" Harry repeated, in a mocking tone.

"Don't get mad, Harry. It wasn't going to make a difference whether I told you then or now."

"Except that you didn't tell me now. I had to find out from Ron, who didn't even really tell me, either."

"What" Asked Draco, in confusing.

"Never mind that. Why didn't you tell me? We could have talked it over. I mean, what am I going to do? Did you know that Ron is already suspicious about us?"

"What? He knows?" Draco asked, his voice incredulous.

"No, of course not. But he's not stupid, either. He knows that something is going on. So now I definitely have to get a date!"

"So then get one." Draco replied nonchalantly. He walked around his desk and pulled out his seat, getting ready to prepare for the day.

Harry just stood there for a moment, uncomprehendingly, before exclaiming, "What do you mean, just 'get one'!"

"If you need a date to clear things up, then do so. It's no big deal."

Harry continued to stare as Draco sifted through several papers with different lesson plans written on each. Finally, realizing that Harry was still staring at him, Draco looked up and let out a light sigh.

"Harry, what is it? I really need to get ready for the day."

"I don't get you. You're sending me mixed signals here, Draco. I mean, one minute, we're all lovey-dovey, and then next, you don't even care enough to talk to me about this properly. Instead, you just tell me to find some random girl and try to push me away. It's like…it's like you don't even care."

Harry was beginning to feel dread bubble up in him. This is what a tiny part of him had feared all along. That he would fall for Draco and then the blond would simply move on. The teen could feel tears beginning to sting at his eyes, but he wouldn't let them fall; he wouldn't let Draco see him cry.

But that didn't mean that Draco couldn't see Harry's eyes begin to water.

"Harry," Draco called gently, trying to make amends. He had forgotten how emotionally insecure a teenager could get. He reached out to take Harry's hand, but the brunette pulled away hastily, almost in anger.

"Harry?" Draco said his name again, this time with confusion.

"You know what? Just forget it, Draco. Forget this whole thing." And with that, Harry turned around, heatedly making his way out of the classroom.

"Harry, wait!" Draco called out, running to the door, but Harry had already turned the corner and disappeared. "Forget about what?" Draco quietly whispered to himself.

Had Harry meant forget about jus their argument, or had he meant their entire relationship? Draco's eyes widened in trepidation. It couldn't be over; not over some silly little argument. Draco wouldn't let it end like this; he just couldn't.

There had to be something he could do to fix things. Something. Harry wouldn't truly leave him forever over one disagreement. Would he?

_No, no, no. Of course not._ Draco kept telling himself. The blonde teacher did not like this. He hadn't felt this worried in a long time. He felt as though he was reliving his high school years, all over again. There were so many tiny mistakes one could make.

Harry wouldn't leave him, he was sure of it, or at least, that's what he kept telling himself. Perhaps it was a lie; perhaps this truly was the end, but Draco wouldn't let himself believe it. Not yet. He wouldn't give up.

He would find a way to fix this.

**AN:** Ok, I noticed this as I was writing. Draco's character does seem a bit OOC, but I figured that it's only because he and Harry are closer now, so he can be more of his true self. The true self that we never get to see in the HP books. Also, it'd be pretty hard to write a romantic story if Draco's were stiff and cold the whole story. Also, I know that Harry is being way melo-dramatic here, but he's a teenager, and what teenager doesn't go a little overboard everyone once in a while? But at least you know that Draco really cares since he got all nervous and worried at the very end. But don't worry, I have a very cute surprise coming up in the next chapter.

Anyway, I hope you liked it. I felt it was a bit sucky for a chapter after an entire month of waiting, but I'm sorry. This chapter, somehow, didn't feel real to me. It was like some dramatic soap opera-type of writing that I never write. Like, I felt as though someone else was writing it; not me. Maybe I wrote it in a different style or something. I don't know. You guys let me know what you think. Please review.

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	11. More Problems

Hey guys. I actually felt really tired this morning and didn't think I was going to update, but then I thought, 'Hey, that wouldn't be very fair at all!' and it wouldn't, so here I am!

Also, I'm going to have to try and finish this within the first week of September, since I'm going away to school next fall, and I'm probably going to be way too loaded with school work to write. So even though I have five-day boarding-type summer program, I'm going to try my very best to start updating once every week instead of every other week, as I've gotten accustomed to.

Also, my secret hope is that I can reach a thousand reviews. That would be so awesome! I know it's asking for a lot, but I'm already half way there, so with another ten chapters, maybe I can make it. But crap, I only have 9 weeks left. We'll see what happens. But it would be very wonderful if you guys were to give me lots of yummy reviews to feed my muse and push me to update sooner.

Ok, well, now on to the story.

Chapter 11

**_More Problems_**

"I'm telling you, Lily, he's been like that all morning," James Potter whispered quietly to his wife. The sight displayed before them was not exactly the most cheerful to look at. Harry lay sprawled across the couch on his stomach, his head slightly off of the couch and facing down, as he stared unblinkingly at the living room carpet.

His right arm hung limply off the couch, lightly grazing the carpet floor. The television was on, showing a blur of excited, bright colors racing around on the screen. But the volume was put on mute and on closer inspection, James noticed that it was a cooking channel.

"For goodness sake, Lily! He's watching the bloody cooking channel! The cooking channel! Harry couldn't care less about cooking!"

Lily watched her corpse of a son in sadness, a frown marring her features. "I know that look."

"What look?"

"That look on his face," Lily clarified. "It's the look of a broken heart."

"Women." James muttered, rolling his eyes. "Why does everything with you women always have to do with love? Harry isn't even dating anyone!"

"Well, didn't he take that girl…oh, now what was her name… oh, yes. Luna. Didn't he take her out on a date not too long ago?"

"I don't really think it was a date. I asked him about it a few days ago and he told me they were just friends, and he seemed fine with it."

"Maybe he's just tired." Lily suggested, hoping it was nothing too horrible.

"Lily, you know as well as I do that he is not _just tired_. It's a warm, beautiful Saturday morning and he's doing nothing but staring at the floor or…" James eyes suddenly went wide and his mouth dropped, his face turning slightly pale as he let out a small gasp.

"What is it?" Lily asked, eager to hear her husband's thoughts.

"Maybe he's not staring at the floor. Maybe he's just dead."

"James!" she exclaimed, smacking him over the head.

"Well, it could be!" He said back, in a loud whisper. "I mean, he hasn't actually moved in quite a while. And some people _do _die with their eyes open. Maybe we should go over there and give him a slight poke…"

Lily glared, efficiently shutting James up.

"James, go do the dishes for me or something."

"But-"

"James, I swear sometimes you behave as though we're back in high school. Just do as I say, please!"

"Yeah, well too bad for me, you _always_ act like we're back in high school, pushing me around and telling me what to do…"

The brunette quickly dodged another smack over the head as he ran into the kitchen to tend to the unwashed dishes.

Harry heard his mother's soft footsteps on carpet make their way toward him. He had almost smiled as he'd listened to his parent's bickering. They were so much like Hermione and Ron, he'd though. Then he'd wondered if he'd ever be like that while dating, and he was quickly brought back into mourning again.

"Harry, honey, is everything alright?" The youth's mother asked tentatively, as she sat down in a small section of the couch which had yet to be occupied by Harry's sprawled form. A small part of Harry wondered what would happen if he refused to answer his mother. Would she cry with sorrow and beg him to answer her. Would she simply take the hint and leave him alone? Or would should turn desperate and take him to the loony bin?

The brunette realized he was being overly dramatic and decided to just get on with it and answer his poor mother. Heaving out a long, slow sigh, he turned himself onto his back and faced his mother. He opened his mouth to speak, but found that his voice had abandoned him, and subsequently settled for a simple shrug.

"Sweetie, it's not healthy to lie around all day doing nothing. Actually, you've been depressed for the past couple of days. Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

His mother's words were southing; like warm honey. Silently, Harry toyed with the idea of telling his mother the truth, but quickly dismissed the idea as thoughts of the chaos it would cause made their way into the department of common sense which so conveniently sat at the very surface of his mind for whenever he needed it…well, most of the time, anyway.

His mother just wouldn't understand, she couldn't understand; no one could.

What would he tell her then? He had to answer her sooner or later. He could feel the seconds ticking by, his heart beating quietly along with them. Perhaps if he began speaking, an idea would make its way into his brain by the time he actually got to the part where he gave a reasonable excuse.

"Well…I-" _DING-DONG_

The doorbell interrupted his words, which was just as well, as Harry's brain hadn't yet come up with a good enough excuse for his knowing mother. "You stay here. I'll be right back."

Harry nodded dutifully and let himself slump even deeper into the warm confines of the couch. Maybe he could manage to fall asleep before his mother got back. Then he wouldn't have to come up with an excuse. He closed his eyes quickly, praying for dark bliss to overtake him, when he heard the man at the door say in a mechanical-like voice, "Delivery for a Mr. Harry Potter."

The raven-haired boy's eyes quickly snapped open, and the curiosity coursing through him was strong enough to even get him to raise his head, so as to try and look over the coach.

_Who could be sending me something? _Harry thought, bewildered.

"Uh, Harry," James's voice made its way over to his ears. Apparently, his father had gone to see what the delivery was, as well. Harry, however, was still oblivious to what delivery he might have gotten, as the door was blocking his way. "You'd better come over here and see this."

A slight enthusiasm zoomed throughout Harry's body, forcing him to get off the couch and walk over to the front door. Harry gasped aloud as his eyes were filled with a beautiful sight.

A large vase filled with dozens of tulips was held out to him. He took a hold of the vase, breathless; admiring the different colors scattered among the gorgeous flowers. He immediately new who they were from as a memory played over in his mind.

"_Erm...my name...is Harry." Harry mumbled, feeling rather uncomfortable under Draco's intense gaze. "Erm...Harry Potter. It doesn't bother me if you call me Harry, I mean, everyone else does." Harry continued with a nervous laugh. "Erm...something about me would be...I guess it would be that, erm..." Harry struggled desperately to think of something, anything! It didn't have to be something big. It could be his favorite sport, his favorite food, the day of his birthday, anything! But he couldn't say anything._

"_What's your favorite type of flower?" Draco asked, helpfully._

"_Oh, um... tulips." Harry answered, with a blush._

"_Interesting..." Draco murmured._

Had Draco been planning to send him flowers all along, or had it just been a coincidence that come in handy for Draco now that they'd just had a fight? Harry couldn't tell, but with a blush, he thanked the man, and closed the door.

"Who are they from?" His mother asked curiously. "I didn't know you had a girlfriend."

"Yeah, and why is she the one giving you flowers? That's not fair. I always had to be the one giving the girls flowers when I was your age." James added, giving a childish pout.

Harry froze for a second and then quickly started rushing up the stairs mumbling a barely coherent, "Just some psycho girl from school."

He then quickly slammed his door shut, leaving two very confused parents.

Harry took no notice, however. He simply turned around and breathed in the lovely fragrance of the beautiful tulips, happy and poised and filled with the sun's lively energy. The divine fumes made his eyes flutter serenely and he leaned against the door in bliss.

Harry loved tulips, but it was the idea of who gave them to him that mad him dizzy with pleasure. Draco had sent him a bouquet of flowers, just like the real couples on tv always did. The idea made Harry giddy with joy and a goofy smile made its way on his face.

He set the vase gently onto his desk and then let himself drop ungracefully onto the bed, hugging his pillows and sighing with joy. He then began laughing hysterically.

_I could not be anymore of a girl at this very moment. I am sooo gay!_ He thought to himself, and the admission didn't bother him in the least. He smiled even wider, proud of himself. He looked over to the bouquet of tulips once more and suddenly noticed a sliver of white sticking out slightly.

Curious, he stood up and walked over to his desk to inspect the tulips more closely. An envelope… which, no doubt, contained a letter in it.

_Draco wrote me a letter, _he thought to himself. The gesture was sweet and Harry was eager to know what Draco would write to him, but a part of him was apprehensive and didn't want to open the letter. Who knew what could be written in there? It could be good or bad, though most likely good, if the bouquet of flowers was any indication to the mood of the letter.

But still, a tiny part of him wanted to keep it a forbidden secret. In movies, letters were always so romantic. Everything was always so romantic on tv, and then when it happened in real life, you would realize that it truly isn't that magical at all.

However, this was a _very _tiny part of him, and so he hurriedly reached over to pluck out the envelope from the tight hold of the tulips. He slowly lifted the top of the envelope and pulled out the letter, soon after, quickly unfolding it.

Draco's perfect penmanship decorated the paper. Harry smiled, and he honestly could not remember why he was so upset with Draco. He read slowly; he wanted to make it last.

_Harry,_

_I am truly sorry that I upset you. I never meant to hurt your feelings in any way. Sometimes I forget how to behave with you. I've said this many times, I know, but things are much more difficult for you than they are for me, and I have to try to understand that._

_I promise to work harder. I want to be better for you; I want to be better to you. I want to make you the happiest person alive. I want to give you everything you could ever want. I want so much for you, I truly do._

_I know that a simple bouquet of flowers cannot fix everything and make all our problems disappear, but I hope that they will let you know how much I truly care for you._

_I love you, Harry._

_Yours always,_

_Your not so secret admirer ;-)_

_Awww… a wink,_ Harry thought to himself, smiling. He didn't think of Draco as the type to draw winks but – wait, Harry looked back up reading the last line again, going pale. _Oh no._

Draco had just said, well, written…he'd admitted to loving Harry. Of course the brunette felt very strong feelings toward his blond teacher, but was he really ready to admit that he loved him? Draco had said it. Did he now expect Harry to say it?

Harry let out a rather frustrated groan. Why did he always have to make things more dramatic than they really were? Why couldn't he ever just let things be?

DHDHDH

Harry avoided Draco like the plague on Monday. He came to school just before the late bell rang, kept his head down during eighth period, and raced out the doors just as the final bell rang. He had no idea how to handle this properly.

He was ruining everything but he couldn't help himself. He told himself over and over again that he was such a coward, but he just kept on with his actions. He was still shaking his head at himself when he felt someone run up from behind him.

"Hello."

"Agh! Ginny! What are you doing!" Harry yelled in half fright. He'd thought it had been…_Never mind who I thought it was,_ Harry mentally chastised himself.

"Geez, loosen up, Harry. What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm sorry, Ginny, you just frightened me is all." Harry explained, blushing slightly. He had been just a tad rude with his yelling, he realized.

"Oh, sorry. Well, I was wondering what you had planned for Friday night."

"Friday night?" Harry asked confused before remembering: the dance. _Duh_. "Oh, yeah, yeah!"

"Right," Ginny said, a hopeful smile on her face.

"Er…you know me, Ginny, a procrastinator till the end. I haven't actually asked anyone out yet." He rubbed the back of his neck with embarrassment.

"Hmm…that's odd. You haven't asked anyone to the dance yet, and I just happen to be waiting for someone to ask me to the dance. What a coincidence!"

Harry snorted good-naturedly. Ginny had always had a slight crush on him, but with the way she was going about things now, he couldn't quite tell if she just wanted to go as friends, or if she was hoping for the night to turn them into something a bit more. Weighing out his choices, Harry realized that asking Ginny out was really the best way to go.

He needed to go to the dance with a girl or Ron would grow even more suspicious, and with Ginny, if he wanted, he could make sure that nothing really happened at the dance. It would be easy, a win-win situation.

"Ginny," Harry said, putting on an overly dramatic smile to match Ginny's, "would you like to go to the dance with me?"

Ginny made a fake little gasp and pretended to start tearing up while saying, "Why, Harry! I thought you'd never ask!"

The two fell into fits of laughter before Ginny waved good-bye and left.

_Well, at least something's taken care of._

DHDHDH

It was Tuesday afternoon. Eighth period, to be exact, and Draco was practically staring Harry down while the students all sat quietly, working on a class essay Draco had assigned them. Finally, he looked up in resignation.

_Why won't he even look at me? It's as thought he's trying to avoid me even more than before I gave him the flowers!_ Draco had quickly decided to send Harry flowers soon after their argument, still having remembered that tulips were Harry's favorite. He had waited until the weekend, when he was sure Harry would be home to receive the flowers, rather than his parents.

Just in case, however, he had not signed his real name.

He just couldn't understand Harry. The blond ranted to himself over and over again, perplexed by Harry's random behavior. One minute Harry was the happiest kid alive, and the next, he was drowned in a pool of doubt and frustration.

Draco had thought that the tulips would make Harry happy, and at least get Harry to talk to him. Perhaps Harry was truly intent on ending this relationship entirely. Maybe the flowers had made Draco seem like a stalker, which, in turn, had made Harry frightened by Draco and more determined to completely ignore him.

Draco nearly growled to himself in frustration.

_I am going insane! _He inwardly exclaimed to himself. All that time with Harry had certainly increased his sense of imagination.

Finally, the bell rang, and Draco watched after Harry's receding form as he rushed at the door just as quickly as he had done the day before. He rolled his eyes to himself, unable to hold back the immature gesture. With the next few minutes he had to himself before the next class came in, he continued to silently ponder.

Harry was such an odd entity. He had a way of being so open to people and wearing his heart out on his sleeve, yet keeping so much in. Draco could never tell exactly what he was thinking, much to his chagrin. How was he supposed to make things better when he couldn't even tell what Harry was thinking; what he wanted.

Bustling noised rippled across the room as huddles of students made their way into the class, and with one last sigh, Draco stood up straight and began the lesson.

DHDHDH

"Good night, mum. Love you," Harry said, walking up to his room.

"Love you too, dear."

"Oh, son, you're too kind!" James said loudly, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he pretended to laugh. "I love you so much, too!"

"Aw, Dad, you know I love you!" Harry said walking back down and rushing over to give his dad a back-breaking hug.

"Too much love. Too much love!" James wheezed out.

Lily and Harry laughed and the brunette made his way up the stairs again, and to his bed. As he lay there in the dark, he thought over the events that had just occurred. He had told both his mother and father that he loved them, and so easily, too. Yet, he couldn't even admit it aloud to himself, that he loved Draco!

The idea had always hung in the air, but neither had ever actually said it. They'd told each other that they cared for each other deeply, and they hinted at it, but those specific three words had never been uttered aloud. They still hadn't, but Draco had clearly written it out.

_I'm losing my mind,_ Harry thought, before he surrendered himself to the darkness.

DHDHDH

**AN: **Ok, I know. I suck. This chapter didn't really have any action, and the whole "I love you" thing had been something floating around in my mind for a while, and it just worked itself into this chapter somehow, and rather unwelcomed, too, I might add. But before I knew it, the whole chapter was based around that. Sorry, you guys. Thetulips were the little surprise, incase you were wondering. But you know that after a filler-type chapter, yummy goodness is boundto come!Geat news! Well, ok, bad for Harry and Draco, but delicious for you readers out there! The next chapter will be the sort of prologue for the action that will really start in chapter thirteen! Yummy stuff happens in chapter thirteen, and then really bad stuff, too! Chapter thirteen is going to be a real rollercoaster!

But that's not going to come yet.

What to expect in the next chapter: Harry and Draco get back together in a sizzling way, but that's not all. Oh no, I'm too evil to end it there and let you guys go on your merry way. No, someone sees them. They get caught right in the act! And while Harry and Draco are making up… let's see if Harry can build up the courage to utter those three special words. :-)

You'll have to wait next week to find out!

And I **will** update next week or you guys can come after me with angry daggers. I give you my permission. :-P

Well, as always, please review! No seriously, review! You don't even have to be logged in. Just click on the little bluish button down there and send me a review. Pretty please with Draco on top!

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	12. Giving in to Desperate Desires

Okay, I'm back and ready to write! At first, I was like, "Maybe I should just take a break and update next week," but then I saw all those menacing reviews! lol! I got things like "Sharpens dagger" and smirks evilly and fingers a dagger..., although that dagger deflated soon after. :-P

But anyway, I couldn't do that to you guys! I have to update now! So yay!

Also, a special request from a reviewer: FIREWORKS!

So hope you all had a great 4th of July!

Note: If Dumbledore comes out a little OOC, I apologize, but I'm not feeling in a quirky enough mood to get his character right. Sorry. :-(

Oh, and just one more thing! I know, you guys are probably thinking, "Oh shut up and get on with the story already," but this is IMPORTANT! I don't want you guys to leave this chapter without finishing, so I just want to warn you that the beginning is just a tad bit slow, but just ignore it. I promise you this chapter is worth it!

Now, onto the story!

Chapter 12

**_Giving in to Desperate Desires_**

On Wednesday morning, Draco sat in a faculty meeting, listening silently as Principle Dumbledore spoke. "Now, as I'm sure all you teachers have many other things to attend to, I have decided to have shifts for the dance on Friday – two shifts, to be exact. One will be from seven to eight thirty, and the second will pick up at eight thirty and end at ten, as will the dance.

"As I have much too much free time on my hands, I randomly selected the shifts assigned to each person by picking out of hat. So listen for your name; as soon as I tell you your shift, you may leave." Picking up a pink paper which had been lying in front of him all along, he began to read out the names and their shifts.

"Minerva, you have the first shift. Patty: second shift. Severus - second shift, as well. Draco, you've been assigned to the first shift. Eleanor, you're …" Draco blurred the rest out as he grabbed his suitcase and left the room.

He was at least grateful that he'd been given the first shift; that way he could get the whole thing over with as soon as possible, and then go home. He honestly didn't feel like himself anymore. Harry had gotten to him a lot more than he'd thought possible.

Draco couldn't be the cheery teacher he had started out as. Most classes were spent with the students writing silently at their desks while he let his mind drift off to other thoughts…thoughts of Harry.

Harry invaded his mind, his life. He had grown increasingly frustrated and even a bit infuriated yesterday, but after he'd gotten home and sat down to thoroughly think things out, it had depressed him. Harry's choice of avoiding him had taken quite a toll on him.

The blond had started this little shenanigan as something interesting to pass the time. He'd seen Harry, noticed his handsome features, and had allowed his physical attraction to the brunette to lead him. Never had he thought that Harry would mean so much; never had he thought that he would fall in love with him.

But he had.

He had fallen very much in love. Even with his teenage tantrums, however slight they were, he couldn't help but love every single thing about the youth. He loved it when Harry smiled at him, and when Harry would ask him questions about himself. He loved the way Harry looked at him with complete admiration, and how Harry could make him laugh at the smallest things.

Harry was so unlike anyone Draco had ever met before. The blond tried not to show his emotions too obviously, but it was becoming increasingly harder with each passing day. He could hardly get himself out of bed anymore; it was becoming almost impossible to put on his everyday mask of indifference in front of Harry.

He feared that Harry had already moved on, and there was nothing left for him to do. Draco wasn't normally one to give up so easily, but he didn't want to do anything to make Harry unhappy, and if the teen really wanted to separate from Draco in all ways, then there was nothing he could do – he had to let Harry be, no matter how hard that was.

With a heavy sigh, he opened the door to his classroom and walked towards his desk, setting his briefcase down, and taking a seat.

He didn't want to move on; he didn't want to let go of Harry. The blond English teacher could almost shoot himself for having fallen so deeply in love with this young boy. This young, beautiful boy with the largest heart he'd ever encountered.

Draco quickly berated himself in his mind, forcing himself to stop thinking of Harry in such a way. If he was going to let go of Harry, then he was going to have to stop living in the past. Today, he would start anew. When Harry came into his class during eighth period, he would teach the same as he would any class.

_I hope you can really pull this off,_ he thought to himself, and slowly began to prepare for the first class of the day.

DHDHDH

Wednesday passed for Harry rather quickly… until eighth period. It seemed almost surreal. It was as though Draco and he had never been attracted to each other; as though nothing had ever taken place between the two. He had to shake his head to remember if the whole thing had been some bizarre dream or if it had been reality.

The two days before this, he had always felt Draco's eyes staring at him as he wrote, as he spoke, as he thought – but not today. Today, Draco treated him indifferently, but not in a negative way. He smiled at him as he smiled at everyone else.

He realized that he missed Draco's attention.

_Stop complaining, Harry. This is what you wanted._ He told himself, but this hadn't been what he'd wanted at all. Or at least he hadn't thought so. He couldn't concentrate on what he was writing, and he quickly gave up, opting to just hand in the empty page. There was no use in handing in anything at all, really, if it was going to be utter garbage.

_I didn't really want to drive him away…I don't think I did. I was just scared…Oh God. Why did I have to be so scared? Why couldn't I just tell him that I loved him, too?_ Harry's thoughts continued on this way for the entire class period.

In allowing his fears to take over, he had just pushed away the one person in his life that had ever made him feel so…_I don't even know what I felt,_ he admitted to himself.

The bell rang, and the students all passed their papers to the front, and then began to file out of the classroom, but Harry remained in his seat just a few moments after. He looked up at Draco and stared at him, mentally begging him to look back, but he wouldn't. The blond simply began rifling through the collected papers, but finally, he did speak, stopping on one particular paper.

"Harry," he said, without looking up. "You didn't write anything. You know you'll be receiving a zero for today's class work, correct?"

"Yes," Harry replied with a gulp.

"But I can give you an extra credit assignment if you like." Harry's heartbeat sped up a few beats. Could Draco be insinuating what he thought? Would Draco ask him to stay after school with him to discuss and perhaps even complete the extra credit assignment - where they could be together…alone?

"I'll be posting up extra credit assignments on the bulletin board outside of my classroom, which will be available to any and all students who want to raise their grade. I don't want anyone to fail my class." He finished finally looking into Harry's eyes, his own silver ones completely devoid of any real emotion.

Harry could have cried right then. He gave a quick gulp and forced his brows to stop quivering, before replying with a short, "Yes, Draco."

"Harry, come on. Hurry up." Ron said from the entrance of the classroom. Harry looked up at him, only just realizing that his freckle-faced friend had been waiting for him all this time.

"Right, coming," And the brunette quickly packed up his things and left with his friend, but not before throwing one last, hopeful glance at Draco. The blond, however, had already turned back to his preparations for class.

DHDHDH

"You didn't tell me you were going to the dance with my sister," Ron said to Harry as they were walking home on Thursday afternoon.

"Oh, Ron, don't pester him about it. What we should be worrying about is what Harry's going to wear. So, have you chosen your outfit, yet?" Hermione asked, cutting into the conversation.

"Well, as for Ron, I'm sorry – it just sort of slipped from my mind, and, um… no. Not really. I guess I'll just wear some nice pants and a button-down shirt. It's not that big of a deal."

"Hmm…I suppose," was Hermione's only reply.

"Hey, I don't really mind that you're going with my sister or anything. I was just wondering why you hadn't told me, since we always tell each other everything. That's all." Ron divulged, going back to the previous subject.

"Sorry, I haven't been thinking too clearly. I guess it's just that school's almost over. There are only a couple of weeks left. You know how I get towards the end of the year – my mind starts to shut down."

"Yeah, I'll bet." Ron replied, though Harry could sense a bit of hostility in his voice.

"R-," Harry began to question Ron's irritation, but Hermione cut in, saying, "Honestly, Harry! How can you just shut down your mind? Just because school's nearly over doesn't mean you should stop learning new things. Maybe if you just…"

Harry didn't much listen to the rest of Hermione's lecturing. He was still contemplating Ron's response. What was wrong with him? He was going to the dance with a girl, wasn't he?

_I swear I just don't understand him. What does he want from me?_ Harry asked himself.

He gave an inward sigh and then made up an excuse to leave his friends, saying his mom had asked him to stop at store nearby to buy some necessities for the house. Making a quick turn, he left his friends behind, more than happily.

He needed to get away from them.

DHDHDH

Harry didn't much care what he was going to wear that night, as he stood in front of his open closet, looking around. In all honesty, he just wanted to get this entire thing over and done with. He didn't know how he was supposed to act with Ginny, or what she was expecting of him, if anything at all.

Finally, deciding that the whole ordeal was mostly on the casual side, he settled for a pair of fitted black dressy pants and a green button down shirt, which he would leave tucked out, with the first three buttons undone. As for footwear, he would just wear a pair of plain black shoes.

He looked over at the clock to see that it was six o'clock, which meant that he had fifty minutes before he was due at Ron's house to pick up Ginny. Quickly laying out his clothes neatly onto his bed, he headed for the shower.

DHDHDH

Forty-five minutes later, Harry pressed his finger to the doorbell. He'd decided to come a little earlier after waiting around in his room with nothing else to do. If Ginny still wasn't ready, he could always just hang out with Ron for a bit.

"Hello, Harry dear. It's so nice to see you! I heard you're here to pick up Ginny. Is that right?" Harry had to force himself not to laugh at Mrs. Weasley's overly hopeful face. Ever since he and Ron had become friends, she'd always hoped for Harry to date Ginny, though he couldn't quite figure out why.

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley, it is. Is Ginny ready, yet?"

"Oh, I'm afraid not. But come in, come in! You can keep Ron some company. He's been ready for the past half hour, waiting for you to come over. Hermione ordered him to start preparing for tonight at 5:30, saying that he always leaves things for the last minute. She didn't want him to be late. That poor girl worries a bit too much, I think."

"Yeah," Harry agreed with a good-hearted smile. "That's Hermione for you."

He stepped inside and walked over to the couch in the living room, where a very morose-looking Ronald Weasley sat, staring at the blank television screen. He was sporting an outfit similar to that of Harry's except that his shirt was of a dark blue, the brunette noticed. Harry wondered if Ron was even blinking, but as soon as he saw Harry, he perked up and exclaimed, "It's about time! I've been waiting here for five hours!"

"Your mom said it was only half an hour."

"Half an hour, five hours – what's the difference? They're practically the same thing."

"Right," Harry said, taking a seat to Ron's right.

"So are you going to start dating Ginny?" Ron asked. Boy, did he get to the point quickly, Harry thought to himself.

"Er…I haven't actually thought that far ahead, yet, Ron." Harry answered, nervous under Ron's gaze.

"Why not; what's wrong with her?"

"Nothing, it's just that I don't really know if I'm looking for a girlfriend at the moment."

"How can you not be looking for a girlfriend? You're a sixteen year-old boy, Harry! You need to stop being as weird as you have lately, and start dating!"

Harry didn't like were this conversation was going. He could feel himself getting angry, as well. All this time, Ron was always being suspicious of Harry and telling him what to do, and the brunette teen always just let him, but this time, he wanted to fight back. What was it any of Ron's business if Harry did or did not date? He could, and would, do as he damn well pleased!

Just as he'd begun to open his mouth, prepared to let out a sharp retort, Ginny came down the stairs and exclaimed, "Oh, Harry, you look so handsome!"

Harry quickly stood from his seat on the couch to turn and take a look at Ginny. Her hair was down, but she had two decorative pins on both sides, each holding a fashionable twist. She was wearing a light green, flowery dress with spaghetti straps, and heels Harry would die in.

_How on Earth can girls stand walking in those things?_ Harry thought silently.

But nonetheless, she looked very pretty in her outfit, he could tell, and he complimented her generously. "Wow, Ginny. You look gorgeous! Really, you look very pretty tonight." Then, realizing that he was talking to a girl, he added, "Not that you don't look very pretty everyday, it's just that today you look especially pretty." He finished with a big smile, hoping against hope that his answer was enough to satisfy the red-head.

"Thanks, Harry." Ginny said, a light blush tingeing her cheeks around her small, shy smile. _Uh-oh. _Harry thought. _Don't tell me we're back to this again._ He'd hoped for tonight to be more of a friendly event, but apparently, Ginny had other plans.

"Come on, let's go already. I have to pick up Hermione." Ron said, bored with the exchange of compliments.

"Oh, Ron, don't feel bad. You look very dashing, too." Ginny said, a playful smile lighting up her features.

"Yeah, yeah, come on." But Ron couldn't hide the small smile that made its way over his lips at the compliment.

"What about Fred and George? Aren't they going to the dance, too?" Harry asked curiously.

"They said they were going to go _fashionably _late, for whatever reason that is. I just know that I'm going to steer clear of them for tonight." The youngest Weasley son replied.

With a shrug, Harry led the way out the door, and they went on their way to pick up Hermione and then head over to the dance.

DHDHDH

Multi-colored ornaments decorated the walls, and colorful light beams sprinkled the gymnasium. Although Harry wasn't much of a dancer, he usually enjoyed coming to the school dances simply to see the gym at its best.

"How lovely," Hermione commented, as she and Ron stepped in after Harry and Ginny. "Ron, let's dance."

"Are you insane, woman? No one is dancing. If we start dancing all by ourselves, we'll be laughed at!" Ron exclaimed. Harry, meanwhile, shook his head. Sometimes Ron cared just a little too much about what others thought.

"Harry, you'll dance with me though, right?" Ginny asked, an innocent smile on her lip-gloss-covered lips. Harry wondered for a brief moment what it would be like to kiss Ginny's lips, before inwardly shaking his head out of those thoughts and looking up to her eyes, and away from her lips.

Harry hadn't really heard Ginny's question, but she had an expectant look on her face so he figured she wanted a confirmation of something, and so he answered with a slightly confused, "Erm…sure, yeah."

"Great!"

Then, before he knew it, he was being dragged out to the dance floor in front of everyone else. _Oh Lord,_ he thought to himself, miserably. _I should really start paying attention to people when they talk._

Ginny began dancing easily to the beat and Harry just followed along, slightly lost but deciding that there really was no way to avoid embarrassing himself tonight. Soon after, he saw Hermione drag Ron along with her onto the dance floor, as well, out of the corner of his eye.

He decided to focus on nothing else but Ginny, for the moment, as he knew that soon, other brave souls would stroll along onto the dance floor and surround him, thus efficiently hiding him from outside viewing.

And he was right. Admittedly, it had taken ten minutes of non-stop, mortifying dancing, in which Ginny refused to let him take a break, but couples did begin to join them in their dance to the music.

"Ginny, I'm kind of tired. Can I take a break?" Harry asked, a pout protruding from his features.

"Oh, alright," Ginny conceded, albeit, a bit reluctantly.

"Thanks. Want me to bring you back some punch?"

"No, they're always spiking the punch. Buy me a soda, would you?"

"Sure thing, I'll be right back." Harry answered, turning and making his way over to the refreshment stand. He idly wondered why every dance always had the classic spiked punch, while fiddling in his pocket for some money.

"Hey, Tim," Harry greeted. Tim was a member of the Student Council, and as such, he'd been put in charge of the refreshments.

"Hey, Harry? How's it going?"

"Not bad, but my date has this obsession with dancing. She only just let me take a break."

"Heh, yeah, I saw you. You guys were the first couple out there dancing. Thank God for me that I'm in the Student Council – it gives me an excuse to come to the dance without a date."

"Lucky," Harry said, chuckling slightly. "Well, anyway, I need to get a soda."

"What kind?"

"Oh crap. Um…I don't know. What do girls usually like to drink?" Harry asked, totally oblivious to what Ginny's preference of soda might be.

"Well, my sister always goes for sprite. She says that since it's clear, it won't stain your teeth."

"Er…right, well, I'll get a sprite for her, then. As for me, can I just have a bottle of water? Soda fills me up too quickly."

"Sure thing, that'll be two fifty."

"Here you go," Harry said, handing Tim the money as he grabbed the two bottles. "Thanks."

"No problem."

_Well, that was a nice conversation. _He walked back over to Ginny and tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. "Hey," she said, smiling. Then she looked at the bottle of Sprite Harry was holding and grimaced. "Sprite? But I wanted Pepsi."

Harry sighed but dutifully offered to go back and buy her another bottle of soda.

"No, never mind. They're both pretty good. Thanks, Harry."

"Yeah," he said, and took a big gulp from his water. He could tell this was going to be a very long night.

DHDHDH

The night went on and, against better judgment, he had bought some punch, even after seeing Fred and George standing in that area earlier on. It was around eight twenty, and since finishing his bottle of water, he had gone through three cups of punch. He couldn't exactly say that he was drunk or anything, but he did feel a very slight buzz.

Ginny walked over to him and pulled him into another dance. "Come on, Harry. It's almost over." And then, just like that, the song was over, only to be replaced by horribly gushy slow song. Harry bit back a groan of dread, but it was too late.

Ginny grabbed his arms, sliding them over her waist, and then proceeded to wrap her arms around his neck. He decided there was no point in resisting, so he began to slowly dance to the music. Ginny kept staring at him, he could tell, and finally, he returned the gaze.

She smiled at him prettily, and he couldn't help but notice just how lovely the twinkle of her big blue eyes was. She was so happy, and he could tell it was contagious, for he began to fill with a feeling of happiness as well.

As they danced, he thought their bodies felt so perfect together, and that comforting buzz was still swirling around a bit in his head. He was so close to her; their faces, inches apart; their lips, so close together.

Draco had moved on, he knew, and so should he. Maybe this was his chance. Perhaps this was the chance he'd been waiting for to start over.

His eyes began to flutter closed, and his head began to drop lower and lower. He could feel Ginny moving in as well, and as their lips finally met, he couldn't help but notice how completely wrong and weird it felt. Her lips were all glossy and bubble-gum flavored, not at all masculine or warm; not at all like Draco's.

He pulled away from her abruptly and muttered a quick, "I need to get some air," before rushing out through the backdoor exits.

DHDHDH

Draco had been discreetly watching Harry through the corner of his eye all night. The blond just couldn't help it. He hated the way that red-head wrapped herself around Harry and danced with him. Draco should have been the one dancing with Harry, not her.

But he did nothing, of course. What could he do? There were people all around, and besides that, Harry seemed perfectly content to play the role of Ginny's perfect little boyfriend. He'd gone and danced with her before anyone else; he'd stopped dancing to fetch her a bottle of soda; he'd smiled at her the whole time, dancing freely and happily. They were the perfect couple.

Draco, for one, found it sickening.

His shift was almost over, thank God. Yet, he knew that he was going to watch Harry until the very last minute. Suddenly, a dreadfully slow song began to play and he froze. He looked over and saw exactly what he'd hoped he wouldn't see all night long.

Harry and that idiot girl were dancing close…too close, staring into each other's eyes dreamily. He could feel his anger rising, but he kept it in control. However, he stopped looking out of the corner of his eyes and turned to look at them completely.

He hated that the red-head got to be so close to Harry when he could not. He was angry, so angry in fact, that he'd almost missed what happened next. Before he knew it, the two were leaning in until they met in a chaste kiss.

Draco's eyes nearly blew up out of his sockets.

_How dare she!_ He thought, enraged. _Forget giving Harry his space! I don't want him with anyone else! He should be with me!_

He was fully prepared to march over and grab Harry out of that girl's hands when he saw Harry pull back, a frightened look on his face, and run out through the exit. Draco waited a few quick seconds before casually walking out as well.

As soon as he got outside, however, he rushed up to Harry, who was practically leaning against a wall, breath uneven, silent tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Harry," Draco whispered.

Harry looked up, startled. His first instinct was to get away as fast as he could, but when he looked into Draco's eyes, the need for Draco's touch was too strong. He began to sob loudly and he choked out a rough, "Draco."

"Sh, sh, sh. It's okay. It's alright." Draco said, embracing him in his loving arms.

"No, it's not. I'm s-so sorry." Harry sobbed out. The young brunette couldn't even begin to explain why he was crying. He didn't understand it; the tears just kept coming out. There were too many emotions running rampant in his muddled mind.

"Don't be, it's fine," but Harry continued to cry. Finally, Draco gently, but firmly grabbed Harry's chin and lifted his face up. "Listen to me. You have nothing to be sorry about, alright?"

Without thinking, Harry let himself do as he pleased, and he leaned up for a small, but loving kiss. He took pleasure in the feel of Draco which he had missed so much. As he pulled away, he looked into Draco's silver eyes and whispered, "I love you."

Draco grinned happily and leaned down for another kiss – this one longer and more aggressive. The blonde quickly licked Harry's upper lip eagerly, and Harry more than happily open up. Their tongues battled, each wanting to taste and explore as much as they could. Harry's fingers were buried in Draco's hair, pulling him closer, wanting to have him completely in a way that simple kissing could not accomplish. The need for each other was too strong. They were groping at each other, and Harry could feel his hands working their way to the buttons of Draco's shirt.

"No, not here. Come with me, Harry. My shift's just about over."

Harry could hardly think. His mind was going haywire. There were so many questions running wild in the air, and he thought he might faint from the overwhelming accumulation of thoughts. But he did know one thing. He knew what his heart wanted, and he knew what his body was aching for. He knew that he wanted Draco.

So with one last feverish kiss, he let Draco lead him into his car, and they drove away.

DHDHDH

In the midst of confusion, a shadow walked towards the exit of the gymnasium to follow after young brunette and see what had gone wrong. Slowly, a hand pushed the door open slightly, and an eye looked out through the crack.

Voices were heard, and rough breathing followed soon after. The eye moved around to locate the source of the commotion, and she gasped.

**AN: **How's that for an update? It was longer than the past few chapters, that's for sure. I even gave you a lot more of Draco's POV than I've ever given, I think. I admit, the chapter was very slow in the beginning, and it was almost too unbearable for me to write, but once I got into it, I really got into it! Woah. I swear, I felt like I was one with Harry. Lol. My mind started feeling all muddled and heavy and I was just like…woah. Anyway, I hope you liked it. And remember, the next chapter is even better, so just imagine the possibilities…. However, you've got to review!

How about this, if I get lots of reviews, I'll update a day sooner. Deal? It's up to you guys!

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	13. Ginny

DUN DUN DUN! This is the chapter we've all been waiting for (even me)! Hopefully, it will live to everyone's expectations. Now, really, I'm supposed to be working on my numerous reports for this summer course I'm in…however…I think I can procrastinate Just a little bit for you guys. :-)

Also, I'm sort of disappointed that chapter thirteen fell in range with the same few days around the release of the sixth book because I realize that everyone (including myself) is practically glued to the book. I pulled away, though, because I promised to update every week. I must admit though, I was a bit reluctant to update this week. I mean, I don't really know if anyone is going to read…but I hope you guys will, anyway.

So here's to hope for some reviews…

Chapter 13

_**Ginny**_

Keys rattled, the knob was turned, and the door was roughly pushed open as an eager Draco Malfoy pulled an equally enthusiastic Harry Potter into his home. The blond quickly pushed the door and closed it with a quick turn of the lock before turning back to the younger brunette with hungry eyes and advancing on him, pushing him against the wall.

Harry fervently pulled Draco to his lips and began his journey of exploration once more, but Draco soon broke off the kiss and slowly, but eventually, began his trek down Harry's neck and lower, as he unbuttoned Harry's shirt with skilled fingers. He wanted to ravish the young man before him; he wanted to taste all of him.

The emerald-eyed youth let out a gasp, which was soon followed by a passionate moan. He'd never felt so alive! Harry let his hands find Draco's head, which had by now reached just bellow his left nipple and eagerly pulled him up, eager for another kiss.

Draco did not pull back this time, but finished unbuttoning the teen's shirt as they kissed heatedly. He finally pulled the green material off, letting it flutter to the floor silently, leaving Harry's torso completely bare. Immediately, Draco felt his manhood grow evermore eager.

He couldn't wait any longer. Keeping in mind not to break the kiss, he pulled Harry along, through the living room and into his bedroom. Harry made sure to close the bedroom door once they entered it, though Draco could not understand why. Perhaps Harry still felt a little paranoid.

Ignoring his thoughts, Draco lifted Harry off his feet and dropped the brunette onto the bed with a grin.

DHDHDH

Harry looked up into Draco's eyes. Nervousness ran through his veins, but he was ready. Waiting longer was not an option; he wanted Draco to make love to him, right here; right now.

He slowly raked down Draco's form with his eyes, noting that Draco was straddling his hips, and the blonde was slowly beginning to unbutton and pull off his own shirt. Harry gulped, waiting; anticipating.

Draco's silky skin was slowly revealed to him, inch by inch, and Harry could see Draco's well-toned abdomen. The brunette's hunger grew and he quickly reached up and pulled the blond back down with him, engaging in a lustful kiss.

Harry could feel Draco's hands make their way down to his belt and eagerly begin unbuckling it. The blonde's fingers then continued on to his zipper and slowly pulled down. Harry heard a quick intake of breath, which he realized was his own. The tiny hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he grew ever more eager, though slightly nervous.

Draco stopped suddenly, and looked deeply into Harry's eyes.

"Are you ready for this?"

With one quick, but deep inhale, Harry let a keen smile spread over his lips and answered with a firm voice.

"Yes."

DHDHDH

Harry lay peacefully by Draco's side, holding him close, and letting his eyelids droop closed. This night had been amazing. He breathed in Draco's fresh scent and let out a small sigh of content. He could still see the images in his mind. Feel the sensations coursing through his body; through his veins.

Draco, naked in all his glory; Harry, his feeling of being at the very edge just before releasing himself with complete satisfaction.

_We have **got** to do this again…and soon._ Harry thought to himself seductively.

Harry slowly began to feel himself fall into blissful oblivion, a smile still on his face.

DHDHDH

Harry woke up with a start; reality came crashing down and he sat straight up. His eyes went wide and he groaned out a terrified, "Oh, no."

Draco, having been awoken from his light sleep, quickly followed, wrapping his arm around the brunette's waist. Then, looking into Harry's frightened eyes, realization hit Draco as well and he muttered a low, "Shit."

They had completely lost track of time!

"What time is it?" Harry asked, in a rushed voice. "Where is your clock? Don't you have a bloody clock in your room!"

"Harry, Harry! Calm, down. Yelling and getting panicky isn't going to solve anything." Harry nodded, still tense, but sufficiently more relaxed. Draco crawled over Harry and looked over to the digital clock on his bedside stand and read the neon green numbers. 12:03 am.

"Ok, it's not too late."

"What time is it?" Harry asked, still anxious.

"A little after midnight."

"Oh, crap! I told my mom I'd be back by eleven at the latest!"

"Oh…that's not good. Come on." Draco quickly got off the bed and put on some clothes, while Harry struggled to hunt for his own, and then quickly threw them on messily. "I'll give you a ride just a block away from your house, alright?"

"Mm-hmm," Harry answered absentmindedly. He was trying to get his other shoe on, and his trembling fingers could hardly tie the laces.

"Let's go," Draco finally said, and Harry jumped up and followed the man hurriedly out of the bedroom.

DHDHDH

"Are you going to be okay?" Draco asked, as he unlocked the car door in order to allow Harry to open the door.

"Yeah, I just hope my parents don't kill me." Harry replied, putting on a dainty smile. He began to walk away, but Draco called him back for one more thing.

Leaning over to Harry's side, he said, "Harry, don't be a stranger after this, ok?"

Harry smiled, tilting closer to Draco and, with a quick kiss said, "Never."

Draco smiled, closed the door, and let Harry begin his walk home. After he'd seen the youth turn the corner, he began his drive back to his own home.

DHDHDH

Harry fiddled with his keys, trying to make as little noise as possible. He finally found the right key a slowly slid it through the keyhole, turning slowly and silently. He pushed the door open quietly and stepped inside.

_Bingo,_ he thought, happily. Then, feeling much more at ease, he quickly began his flight up the stairs and- "Just one minute young man." His mother Lily's voice called.

_Crap,_ Harry thought, dropping his head low. He slowly turned to see his mother and father standing in the archway of the living room, looking very distraught and angry.

"And just where have you been, Harry? Do you realize what time it is?"

Looking over to the clock hanging above the door, he answered his mother with a quietly murmured, "12:35."

"And what time did you say you were going to be here?" His father asked.

"Eleven."

There were a few moments of silence where no one said a word. Finally, Lily whispered something to James and walked away. Harry's father looked at him and told him to go upstairs to his room. Letting out an inward sigh, the younger brunette thought he'd gotten away with it, but no. James followed him upstairs. Once in his room, the two sat down on his bed and Harry stared at the floor, waiting.

"Son, you are sixteen and I know that at that age, I felt like a grown man, too, but you're not."

Harry looked up at his father questioningly, but allowed him to continue.

"Look at you, Harry. You're hair's more messed up than I've ever seen it, your clothes are all rumpled, and you're flushed. I know what you did."

Harry's eyes went wide. _Oh no. Oh no, oh no._ _How could he possibly know?_ Harry felt himself go rigid and tense. He did not even want to think about the consequences that would take place now.

"Listen, I know you're a growing boy, and your hormones are going to get the best of you, but you need to learn to keep in control. Now if you want to have sex with a girl, you had better be sure that you are ready for any and all responsibilities. Do you understand me?"

Harry could have died of relief. He quickly nodded to please his father.

"Harry, please tell me you used protection."

"Dad!"

"Harry, I'm serious."

"Of course I did!" which wasn't a lie.

"Oh, thank God." Harry allowed himself a little smile at his father's relief. "I was afraid I was going to become a grandfather so young.

_Don't worry, Dad,_ Harry thought to himself. _With the way things are going, it looks as though you won't become a grandfather at all._

"I'm going to go speak with your mother and assure her that everything went well. But Harry, please, don't make things so obvious for your poor mother like this. You know how mothers are – they like to think that they're children are young and innocent for as long as they can." He said, ruffling Harry's hair lovingly.

"I know, Dad. Sorry."

And as James Potter closed the door behind him, Harry let himself fall onto the bed with a sigh of relief.

DHDHDH

Harry walked to school on Monday morning, not nervous at all. He was fully prepared to walk over to Draco's room for a glorious greeting when Ginny walked in his way.

"Oh, er… hey Ginny. How's it going?"

"We need to talk." Her voice was grim and ominous.

"Umm…I'm actually about to do something, can we do this later?"

"No."

With a sigh of resignation, Harry followed her over to a private section on the side of the school. "What is it?"

"I saw you Friday night. Just after you left me at the dance."

"So?" Harry said, playing dumb.

"Don't act stupid, Harry. I saw you…with Draco."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Harry said, although the fear was quickly making its way to his eyes.

"I saw you. You were _kissing_ him! A teacher; a guy! I never, in my life, thought that you could do something so hideous and wrong."

Harry began to hate Ginny, but his fright was enough to overpower his anger towards her. He remained quiet, at a loss of what else to do.

"You had better put this to an end…and soon. Because if you don't, then I will."

With that, Ginny stalked off.

Harry could have growled with frustration. Ginny had never, ever been like this. She had always been so caring and understanding, and nice to him.

_Just goes to show you. You never know…_

Harry shook his head at a loss.

_Oh, God. What am I going to do?_

_**AN:**_

Okay, I have no time, I'm going to be late for school. Listen, I know it's short, and I know that it's a bit rushed, an the whole encounter with Ginny sucks. This is not at all what I imagined for this chapter, but I really need to get it out now, or I won't be able to until next week. So I hope you enjoyed, and sorry if it's not exactly the best. I talked a lot about how I thought it was going to be so great, and now I've flopped. I'm really, really sorry.

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	14. Insinuations

Hiya! I'm really sorry I didn't update last week but, once again, I was in a hurry, and I definitely did not want to update because I didn't want the same thing to happen as with chapter thirteen. I realize that the previous chapter was not, by any means, my best work yet. I was hurried and frantic; I wanted to read the HP book (which, by the way, did not satiate me at all. I mean, I had practically already read half the book on but I also wanted to update for you guys, so…yeah. It didn't come out very well and I don't think that's for to you guys. So anyway, I'm taking my time on this chapter so that I can make it about the same length as my usual chapters. :-P

BTW: Since this is AU and it's Mr., Ms., and Mrs. Instead of 'Professor', I've decided to simply _assume_ the Professor McGonagall is _not_ married since it hasn't been hinted at otherwise in the books.

So anyway, yeah! Moving on to the story!

Chapter 14

_**Insinuations**_

Harry's shock remained, lingering through the rest of the morning. His first five classes went by in a blur. He realized now how ignorant he had been on Friday night, letting his emotions get the best of him and not taking the necessary precautions to have been unnoticed; how ignorant both he _and_ Draco had been.

_What am I going to do?_ He thought to himself, worried. His sixth period class was spent berating himself angrily, the shock having been forgotten. Now, he was upset and annoyed with himself as well as Draco. How could they have been so stupid? How could they have been so –

"Potter, if you do not wish to pay attention in my class, the door is to your right," Ms. McGonagall cut in irately. She had already called is attention twice before and by now most students would have been given a detention. Harry appreciated her tolerance and made sure to pay attention for the fifteen minutes left in the class period.

The bell finally rang and Harry hurried to pack his backpack and leave. Ms. McGonagall had other plans, however.

"Mr. Potter, would you come here, please," she said from her desk. With an inward sigh, Harry swung his backpack over his shoulder, stood up straight, and walked over to the older woman's desk.

"Yes, Ms. McGonagall?" Harry asked, forcing himself to put on a small smile.

"I noticed that you were not, shall we say, 'all there' in my class today."

"I'm sorry, I really am. I'll make sure not to let it happen again. I-"

"Mr. Potter," she cut in. "Had it been any other day, I would have readily given you a detention for being so rude as to daydream during my class."

"Yes, I-"

But again, the elderly woman cut him off. "However, I don't think that today was any ordinary day." Harry froze. "You seemed very… worried. Is something wrong?"

Harry looked down. Yes, of course there was something wrong, but it wasn't as though he was going to tell _her_. Yes, Ms. McGonagall was a nice person at heart, but she was also the strictest teacher he had ever known. Mr. Snape was simply mean, but Ms. McGonagall was strict. She followed every rule in the school handbook as though it was the bible. If Harry told her about his dating Draco…_ha!_ He didn't even want to think about it. The idea was simply ludicrous. She would be the first one to go to Principle Dumbledore, or worse, the police.

Honestly, Harry couldn't even tell Ron or Hermione. As if he would actually tell Ms. McGonagall. He did wish there were someone in whom he could confide; someone who he could just pour his emotions out to; Ron or Hermione…but he couldn't tell them, and he new this. If Draco didn't think it wise, which was most definitely the case, then Harry was sure that he shouldn't tell anyone- not even one of his best friends.

"Mr. Potter?" Ms. McGonagall asked after several moments of silence had passed. The young brunette shook his head to clear his mind and put on the best smile he could muster up.

"Don't worry. It's nothing, really. Just… erm… girl problems."

The female teacher stood, mouth hanging slightly open before she regained her composure and exclaimed, "Is that all? You looked as though the world were about to come to an end! Honestly, I thought that surely it would be some more serious, but no! Teenagers, these days…" she continued muttering to herself before she realized that Harry was still waiting for her to dismiss him and so she muttered a quick, "You may leave, Potter."

Harry turned around and began his journey out of the classroom, when he heard a quietly murmured, "Next time I'll be sure to give him a double detention…" Harry merely rolled his eyes and continued down the hall, making a turn soon after, and walking down the steps toward the cafeteria. He was just glad to finally be done with his classes for a little while.

At lunch, he would be able to just relax and not think about anything at all.

_Think again,_ he thought to himself, as he held back the urge to let out a terrible groan. Ginny was sitting right between Hermione and Ron so that it would be impossible for Harry to avoid her. Letting out a dreadful sigh, he bought his lunch and made his way to the table in which his newly-made enemy sat.

Sitting across from Ron, Ginny, and Hermione, he set down his tray and quietly began to eat. He was afraid to speak, thinking that anything he said could, at any moment, fire Ginny up and urge her to let out what would be a horrible outburst.

Hermione finally noticed Harry's silent demeanor and asked, "What's wrong, Harry?"

His head snapped up, having been taken by surprise, and he asked, "Who? Me?"

"Yes, you; who else would I be talking to? You're the only one here saying nothing at all. Are you alright?"

"Er…" he glanced over at Ginny, as if hoping to get the okay by her, afraid of angering her in any way, but the red-headed teen was pointedly ignoring him. He hated being so scared of Ginny, but she now had a huge power over him, and there was nothing he could do about it. "No, I'm fine, Hermione. I guess I'm just a bit tired; I didn't get too much sleep last night," which wasn't exactly a total lie, seeing as to how he had spent most of the night replaying and fantasizing about his night with Draco.

"How come?" Ron asked, studying Harry's features.

"Oh, well, um…"

"You know what I think is really disgusting?" Ginny said aloud, interrupting Harry's struggle to find a reply.

"What?" Ron asked, curious about Ginny's sudden, out of the blue comment.

"Have you ever seen one of those movies, where the teacher is dating his student? I mean, what kind of psycho would you have to be to get a kick out of something disgusting like that?"

Harry tensed up and quickly cast his eyes down, suddenly studying his food as though the secret of life were hiding somewhere within the pre-cooked cafeteria lunch. Ron made a face, grimacing slightly, and Hermione wrinkled up her nose just a bit, disapprovingly. Fred and George, however, who sat side by side on Harry's right began to cackle evilly.

"Actually," began Fred.

"That doesn't sound too bad." George cut in, and from there, the two took turns cutting in and continuing each other's sentences.

"I mean, just imagine it."

"A young student, falling in love with her teacher,"

"And the teacher reciprocating those feelings,"

"But of course, none of them can openly show their true feelings,"

"Because modern-day society would look down upon it, harshly,"

"So they date in secret,"

"And then they have hot, raunchy sex!" Fred exclaimed.

"Yeah! They do it in the closet,"

"And in empty classrooms,"

"And in the locker rooms,"

"And with a whip!"

"And-"

"Ugh! That is disgusting!" Ginny exclaimed, horrified.

"That's gross," Ron said, looking disgusted.

Hermione simply rolled her eyes while shaking her head, muttering, "_Boys._"

"Well, Harry doesn't think it's so disgusting, do you?" Fred asked, wrapping and arm across the brunette's shoulders. Harry tried let out a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah, you're on our side, are you, buddy?" George added.

"Umm…I don't know…I guess." He could feel his face burning up. Why did the twins have to put him on the spotlight like this? Worse yet, why did Ginny have to bring the subject up in the first place?

The rest of the lunch period went by with Fred and George making up more perverted scenarios, making each worse than the one before, with added detail enough to make Ron turn a suck shade of green and to make Hermione excuse herself, reasoning that she should try and get a head start on next week's homework.

DHDHDH

During the beginning eighth period, Harry noticed that Draco was behaving very tentatively around Harry. He hesitantly asked Harry a question on the book, saying Harry's name cautiously.

"And what do you think about this… _Har_ry?"

The blond collected Friday night's homework and took Harry's paper carefully, looking him in the eyes, questioningly. The young teen was confused at first, but suddenly, it dawned on him. Draco was afraid that Harry had changed his mind about things all over again and regretted Friday night's actions.

So, with the hope of sweeping Draco's worries away, Harry caught the blonde's eyes and gave him a reassuring, and wide grin. Immediately, the older man gave returned Harry's grin with a small smile of his own, so as not to make things so obvious, but for the rest of the class period, a change in Draco's demeanor was apparent.

The class ended with Draco announcing that there would be no homework for the day, which was rewarded with whoops of glee from several of the students. Harry would have been just as happy except for the problem with Ginny. Draco seemed so happy now, and the emerald-eyed boy did not want to upset him and bring down his joy, but he had to.

He "accidentally" dropped his backpack while it was open, spilling out all his contents. He swooped down to begin repacking his things while Ron and Hermione walked over to him to wait. "It's alright, you guys. Go on, I don't want you to be late."

Hermione was happy to oblige and Ron just gave him an odd look before agreeing and following Hermione out the door. Once he was sure the room had been cleared of all students, Harry got up, his backpack forgotten, close the door gently, and walked over to Draco.

"How's my favorite guy doing, today?" Draco asked, and he pulled Harry in for a kiss before the youth could reply. Harry let himself enjoy the kiss, knowing that Draco wouldn't be as "lovey dovey" after he told the blonde of the news on Ginny.

He bit onto Draco's lower lip gently, tugging him back in for another kiss, which he was more than happy to comply with. Harry's fingers ached to reach up, under Draco's shirt and feel his silky skin once again, but he realized there was a limited amount of time before the next class came in, and grudgingly pulled himself away.

"What is it?" Draco asked, noticing Harry's worried look.

"I…Ginny knows." He had meant to be a little more subtly than that, but the words had simply stumbled out before he could properly think.

"What?" Draco asked, genuinely confused, before realization struck. "…no."

"Yes," Harry corrected, nodding mournfully. "She saw us after you followed me out of the gym."

"Shit."

Harry watched anxiously as Draco leaned against his desk. During the many times Harry had been with Draco, he had hardly ever heard him curse, unless jokingly, and even then, it was very rare. The young brunette swallowed nervously before joining Draco, leaning against the desk. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know." Draco answered, truthfully.

Harry's eyes widened slightly. "What do you mean, you don't know?" For some reason, he'd always thought that Draco had all the answers, but as Harry had begun to realize before, Draco was only human. He let out a quiet sigh.

"I mean, 'I don't know.' God, what did she say?"

"She was really angry about it; disgusted by it, actually. She said that if we didn't break it off soon, she would tell."

Draco turned to Harry questioningly, his questions asking what his voice dared not inquire aloud. Harry let out a small smile and gave Draco a chaste kiss. "Draco, trust me, I don't want to end this. I want to figure out a way to make this work." Harry enjoyed reassuring the blond, seeing a whole new side to Draco; a vulnerability he had never known existed.

Draco's features brightened and his confidence was reassured as he spoke. "Alright, well, I guess you'll just have to tell her that we did break up. I mean, it's no big deal. Then, from there, we'll just have to be a lot more careful. No more slip-ups. We've got to be more aware of our actions and in control of our emotions."

Harry nodded in agreement. He had just one nagging question.

"Draco, I know you probably wouldn't want me to, and it's probably stupid, but I just wish I could tell someone, you know? To have someone to talk to about all this, like Hermione or Ron. I mean, it's not fair. When Ron was dating Lavender, he talked about her nonstop, proud and showing her off, but I can't talk about you to anyone."

Draco gave him a look of sincere sympathy. "I know it must be hard, but I really don't think it would be a good idea to tell anyone; even if it's your best friend."

Harry nodded. Of course, he had known this would be Draco's answer, but he had still hoped. If Draco had believed the idea was acceptable, then Harry would have, too, but the fact was that telling anyone could get them both into serious trouble.

There was still another minute before the next class was due to come in, and Harry figured he could simply get Draco to write him a note for his next class, so he stayed there by Draco's side, resting his head on the blonde's shoulder.

"So how did it go with your parents?"

Harry muffled a groan in Draco's neck. "You don't want to know."

"Oh, but I do."

Harry let out a small chuckle and began his telling of Friday night's events. "I got home and they were waiting for me, and my mom was completely furious. Then my dad followed me up to my room and told me he'd known what I'd been up to. Naturally, I totally freaked out, but then he told me the most ridiculous thing!"

"What? He doesn't know about us, does he?"

"Not by a long shot. He thinks I went out and had sex with some girl." Draco stifled his laugh and allowed Harry to continue. "Then he went into this whole deal, telling me all about safe sex and warning me to use condoms and all that. And then, after all that, he said that it was really alright for me to have sex, but just not to let my mom know!"

"You have _got_ to be kidding me?"

"I'm not!" The two fell into a fit of laughter before the bell for the beginning of next period finally rang and Harry straightened up and walked over to the door. "Oh wait," he said. "Draco, write me a note for my next class, please."

"Sure." He wrote out a note, as the students from the next class began to file in. Harry quickly took the note and slipped out of the class inconspicuously, escaping the attention of the other students.

DHDHDH

As the final class bell rang, Draco dismissed his class and set about packing his briefcase and tidying up his desk. He hated coming to school in the mornings to e messy desk; it made him feel frustrated and overworked before the day even began.

He closed his briefcase just as the last student, a girl with two brown ponytails bobbing perkily at the top of her head, and began to take his own leave of the classroom. Just as he reached the door, however, a tall, dark figure made its presence at the blonde's door.

"Hello, Severus," Draco greeted, putting on a stiff smile. The beady-eyed, older teacher never settled well with Draco. He found the man to be overbearing and, well, for a lack of better words, mean. Being a fellow colleague, however, he had to suck it up and behave friendly toward the other man.

"You disgust me," He began by way of greeting.

_Oh, Severus, you're too kind. Such a lovely sole, you are. Truly. _Draco thought to himself, sarcastically. Instead, he simply said, "I beg your pardon?"

"Don't think I'm completely oblivious to your actions. The others may be, but I am not. I am not stupid; I see right through your fake little front."

"What are you _talk_ing about?"

"Stop playing the innocent young man."

"I'm sorry, but if you intend to have me follow along with you, you're going to have to be just a little more specific than that."

Snape's eyes narrowed slightly, and his gaze burned into Draco's eyes menacingly, but the blonde remained calm and nonchalant. Finally, the older man decided to test a different approach.

"It is curious, you see, when certain events happen, one after the other. Mr. Potter," Draco had to hold back a flinch as his beloved brunette was brought into the subject, "is a very…average young man. He is like any other teen: he plays basketball, just barely gets by, passing all his grades, and he enjoys hanging out with his friends. But during these past few years in which I have known him, he has never, not once, developed an especially close relationship with any teacher."

He paused for dramatic effect, looking Draco in the eyes before continuing.

"Yet, you come into this school, a mere substitute, and he is all over you like white on rice. Everywhere I turn, I see the two of you together."

"What are you getting at, Severus? I'm a friendly teacher, and I make sure that all my students can feel comfortable around me. If you are simply just a tad bit jealous of my ability to-"

"_Jealous!_ Ha! That will be the day. No, my point is that it is very curious just how close you and that Potter boy are, specifically. I've seen you together during mornings before class begins, between classes, after school… and every time, you tell me that it is for extra credit, questions about his grades, or questions about homework assignments. Yet, his grades, from what I can tell, are nearly perfect."

"That's because he comes for so much help as you have so clearly just proved."

Snape scowled angrily, but continued, refusing to give up his argument. "Most curious, however, is the fact the both you and Mr. Potter left the dance on Friday night at nearly exactly the same time. I saw him leave, and then I saw you follow him soon after."

"What's your point?"

"You both left through the same exit at about the same time. Did you not see him?"

"Yes, I saw him, and I said a quick hello. We talked for a bit and then I went home, as my shift was over."

"Are you sure?" Snape persisted.

"Yes." Draco answered, trying to hold back his anger, though the fire in his eyes was quickly blowing his cover of indifference.

"Really? Because I don't think that's what happened at all. I think something a bit more happened; something that is, perhaps, forbidden."

"Are you trying to insinuate something?" Draco asked, stiffly.

"I am insinuating nothing; I am simply making observations. But you would do well to remember the rules of this school; the laws of this government. There are consequences for every action made, and many of them happen to be disastrous."

Draco said nothing, but kept a steady gaze. After a few moments of silence, Snape made just one more comment before leaving the classroom. "Be warned; I will be keeping a close eye on you, Draco."

Draco glared and muttered to the brunette's retreating back, "You do that."

**AN:**

Alright, well, this is not as long as chapter twelve, but it is as long as chapter eleven. So that means it's definitely longer than the last chapter! I hope you guys liked it. I don't think this chapter actually really has all that much drama, but it sort of brought out the fact that there are serious problems waiting for Harry and Draco. And trust me, the full effects haven't hit him yet, but Harry will soon realize just how complicated things can really get. Before this, it has been little problems, like being too nervous to say "I love you," and being embarrassed as Draco watched him during the game, but as you well know, the whole adult dating minor thing is illegal, and so bigger problems are bound to come in sooner or later. So throughout the rest of the chapters, I'm going to try to make this more serious, which is a little hard for me since I like more happy, easy going, even sometimes funny things to take place during my stories. So we'll see how things go. Please review! It makes me very, _very _happy! Pretty please… this time with a naked Draco **_and_** Harry on top?

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	15. Blackmail

Hello to all!

Ok, sorry this is late, but don't worry. I will definitely finish the story, even when school starts, I promise. I hate leaving things unfinished, so I promise to definitely finish, no matter what. So now we can all relax and enjoy the story as it goes along instead of having to rush. Hooray!

Also, I would like to give out a large thank you to all of my reviewers! Wahoo! Snaps to you all!

BTW: I know I really shouldn't put in pointless scenes that just take up space, really, but I just couldn't help it with this chapter. I mean, I know the story is going to get more serious, but I still want to keep it fun and happy for as long as I can and well, with James and Lily still completely oblivious to everything, why not have a bit of fun with them? P

Chapter 15

_**Blackmail**_

Tuesday morning found a very distracted Harry Potter eating his breakfast mechanically. He filled his spoon with milk-moistened cereal, opened his mouth, placed the spoon in mindlessly, closed his mouth, pulled the spoon out, chewed and swallowed. Then he proceeded to do it again and again and again – taking an occasional sip of orange juice - with his eyes holding a determined look the entire time.

James and Lily each looked around awkwardly as though in search of the answer to Harry's thoughts, whatever they might be. The older brunette resisted the urge to whistle – a nervous habit of his – and finally looked at his wife, knowing that she usually had the ability to figure out the many illusive things that James could not. However, as their eyes met, the red-head could only give him a confused look, and James simply shrugged.

He turned back to his son and began squinting one eye, and tilting his head slightly to the left, wondering if looking from a different perspective might help him understand things more clearly.

It didn't work.

He wouldn't give up, though. He lifted his right hand to his eyes and bent his fingers so that they made a circle, resembling – in his opinion – and small telescope. Then, realizing that this wasn't working either, he pouted, letting his hand drop.

Not five seconds later, his features lit up as he thought, _I've got it!_ An idea had ingeniously formed in the midst of his ever-so-clever brain. _How could I have been so stupid? A telescope needs glass!_ He quickly grabbed his empty glass –which had previously held his own orange juice- and raised it to his right eye. The brunette looked through it to see his son, but it was a bit difficult, as the little bit of remaining pulp clouded his vision slightly, and he had yet to understand what Harry was thinking.

However, another brilliant plan – again, in his opinion – embedded itself in his mind. He would use telepathy! He scrunched up his face tightly and began to concentrate, so hard in fact, that he kept the glass cup still above his eye – having completely forgetting about it – and even made a slight grunting sound.

_Aha!_ He thought to himself proudly. He had forced Harry out of his trance, as the teen suddenly fell out of his stupor and looked at his father oddly.

"Dad, what are you _do_ing? You look like you're constipated."

Lily could not help it. She fell into a fit of giggles, which grew into a bout of full-fledged laughter. James, however, narrowed his eyes and pouted. "I am not constipated! For your information, I just performed telepathy to pull your mind out of a swirling black hole and bring you back to life!" He proclaimed proudly, though the effects of his prideful voice were lost in the background sound of his wife's hysterical laughter.

"_Right."_ Harry replied, looking away, embarrassed. He then cleared his throat and, avoiding his father's eyes, said, "Well, I'm going to school now," and then at his mother's continued laughter and his father's beginning of a protest to prove himself right, he quickly added, "I do _not_ know you people," and quickly fled out of the house, his mother's laughter still easily heard even once he'd closed the door.

DHDHDH

Harry shook his head and inhaled a deep breath before exhaling loudly on his way back to school. His parents' odd behavior was enough to get anyone to lose their train of thoughts, but he could not afford to be sidetracked. The brunette needed to concentrate on his main goal of the day: getting Ginny to believe that he had broken up with Draco.

He had thought about this the entirety of the previous night. How on earth was he supposed to convince Ginny that he had broken up with his beloved teacher. Harry grimaced at the thought. Ginny would have surely retched if she'd heard his last thought. The fact that Harry was dating Draco, his male teacher, had completely disgusted the red-head, and Harry was infuriated by the fact.

It just wasn't fair.

Why was everyone else free to do as they pleased and love who they wanted when Harry was confined to keep his love a secret merely because of his gender and age? Love was love no matter how a person looked at it, and it shouldn't be so crudely burdened by rules.

People like Ginny were so bigoted and narrow-minded that they couldn't get past the outside, initial look and beyond, into what counted most: love. Harry chuckled quietly to himself. He sounded so clichéd in his own mind.

_When did I become such a bloody romantic?_ He smiled slightly, before suddenly scowling and berating himself for losing track of the main situation at hand yet again.

Convincing Ginny couldn't be as simple as just saying that he had broken up with the blonde, he just knew it. With the way Ginny had begun acting, the brunette could sense that Ginny would definitely want some sort of proof, but what possible proof could be shown to prove that he had supposedly broken up with Draco?

He couldn't figure it out, no matter how many times he thought about it. In any case, he realized that he was thinking too far ahead. The first step would be to actually state that he'd broken up with Draco, which seemed to be very difficult. Harry could say the words aloud to her, of course, but making them sound believable was the tricky part.

Harry cursed himself for being such a horrible liar. _But I've lied before, and it works… sometimes,_ he thought to himself, in hopes of raising his confidence, though he was failing miserably.

"That's it!" He said to himself. "I'm just going to say, 'Ginny, I-'"

"Yes?" Ginny asked, appearing in front of him. Harry took a surprised step back and looked around, shocked to see that he had already arrived just outside the grounds of his school. "Well?"

"Oh, er..umm.." He stuttered, completely forgetting his thoughts last night of being cool and confident. "Well, you see…"

Ginny's eyes began to narrow as her patience quickly began slipping away until only a fine mist was left of it…"What is it!" She exclaimed.

Harry jumped a bit and cleared his throat to buy some time, even if only a tenth of a second. "I-"

"Did you break up with him, yet?" Ginny asked in a hushed, yet demanding voice.

This was perfect. Harry didn't even have to say a full sentence. All he had to do was say one simple, tiny, measly, itty bitty, little word. _Yes._ He thought to himself, and he was fully prepared to say it. He was prepared to say it…. He was still prepared to say it… _Okay, any time now, Harry,_ he thought to himself.

Ginny's eyes were boring holes into his own and he gulped. Perhaps there was a knot or something similar stuck in his throat and all he had to do was swallow it down. He took another gulp, but he still wasn't speaking.

"Well? Did you, or did you not?" Ginny demanded, her voice fierce.

_Oh, for crying out loud! It's just one word! Say it, damn it!_ Harry's eyes went slightly wide as his internal battle continued._ Say it…come on…just say it…Say it!_

"Y-yes," he stuttered out. _Crap!_

All he'd had to say was one word, but he'd been unable to utter even that out. His mind was going haywire and he could feel himself going dizzy as he watched Ginny desperately, begging for her to believe him with his eyes.

"Ha! I don't believe you."

"But…but it's true!"

"How can I be sure?"

"I don't know. What do you want me to do to prove it to you?" His voice was urgent. He needed Ginny to believe him.

The red-head stood quietly for a moment, deep in thought. There weren't very many ways for Harry to actually prove that he was no longer in a relationship with Draco, she soon realized, but she could use this to her advantage. Why not? After all, Harry had been the one rude enough to leave her at the school dance, and for a teacher, at that. A male teacher!

A malicious glint gleamed brightly in her eyes.

"Well, since you two aren't seeing each other anymore, you're a free man, right?"

"Yes," Harry answered uncertainly, not liking where this was going at all.

"Good, so then you'll be dating me."

"What! Ginny, be reasonable. Whether I'm dating him or not has nothing to do with me dating you."

"And whether or not you were or still are dating him, what you two did was illegal, and I could easily have him put in jail."

Harry froze. His eyes narrowed furiously. He had never hated anyone in his life more than he hated Ginny Weasley at that very moment. "Fine," he answered stiffly, his voice no more than a whisper.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said, putting on a disgustingly sweet voice, mocking Harry with each new words, "Fine…what?"

"Fine, I will go out with you." He responded through gritted teeth.

"And not only that, but you will be my boyfriend, as well."

He glared more fiercely, but there was honestly nothing more that he could do.

"Fine."

She smirked superiorly and Harry just barely restrained himself from doing something he would regret by consoling himself with the thought that at least she hadn't made him elaborate on his answer once again.

"Wonderful," she said, and with that, she swiftly pressed her hand against the back of Harry's neck and pulled him down for a kiss. The brunette was disgusted with himself and Ginny for this horrible kiss, this horrible kiss which the red-head should not be allowed the privilege to share with him, but of course, this was not the end of it. Ginny licked her tongue across Harry's bottom lip, and when Harry did not respond, she bit him sharply, eliciting a gasp from the male youth.

He realized Ginny's plan a mere tenth of a second too late, as Ginny took Harry's open mouth to her advantage and slipped in her unwelcome tongue. She began to massage her tongue against his, and the other teen knew he had to respond, lest he receive worse damage, and kissed back. He grimaced slightly as the kiss progressed.

Her kisses were so different from Draco's comforting, loving ones. His lips were tender and patient, while hers were rough and unceremonious. He wanted nothing more than to pull back and push her far, far way, but he knew he couldn't. He allowed the kiss to continue until she had to pull up for air, a cheeky smile lighting up her features.

"Let's go, _boyfriend._"

Harry just barely held back his groan. Today was going to be another one of _those days._

DHDHDH

The young brunette had never been so grateful to have such long, time-consuming classes. It was time in which he was occupied; time in which he was _not_ with Ginny. He was attentive in all of his class, hoping that if he paid attention, perhaps the Gods would be kind enough to extend his classes for hours more.

This behavior, however, earned him concerned and strange glances from his teachers.

When his final class before lunch ended, he actually groaned aloud, "Oh no," earning stares from not only his teachers now, but his classmates, as well. He didn't care, though. "Ms. McGonagall, don't you want to teach us more? I mean, there's got to be more to know! I, for one, think that Geometry is not only an important class for all students to take in and learn about, but also, the basis of knowledge, itself. I mean, honestly, what would the world be without all these magical shapes that we call squares and triangles, and, more importantly, hexagons?"

The elder woman looked around to her other students, as though one of them would hold the answer to Harry's random and unprecedented behavior, but to no avail. She then cleared her throat and said, "Well, I don't know what has made you think this way, but if you truly enjoy the subject so much, you may stay after school with me and we can discuss-"

"No! We need to do this right now! There's no time like the present. And besides, I could _die _before school ends, and then I'll never have gotten the opportunity to learn more! We have to stay here, and learn this right now!"

"And your lunch?"

"Forget lunch! Food is only a necessity if you make it a necessity."

"What?"

"No!"

"Oh, come on, Harry!"

Several cries of protest were heard throughout the room in response to Harry's painfully ridiculous suggestion.

"I'm afraid I must agree with your classmates, Mr. Potter. All of you, go on. Get to lunch."

"Yes!" the students all shouted in cheerful unison.

Harry simply groaned, making a mental note that the Gods did not help and that he should never, ever try to pay attention in class again. All it did was result in killing off whatever remaining brain cells were still alive in a teenage boy such as himself.

DHDHDH

_Blegh!_ Was all Harry could think as he was smothered by another one of Ginny's stifling kisses. She finally pulled away with a sweet smile and looked at the others, staring in awe.

"I didn't know you two had gotten together." Hermione was the first to comment.

"Oh, it was very random. We were just walking together after school yesterday, talking about nothing and everything all at once and, all of a sudden, Harry and I both stopped, and we just looked at each other and…we knew. He leaned in and we shared the most ro_man_tic kiss!" Ginny lied.

"Is that true, Harry?" Ron asked, unbelieving.

"Umm…" Ginny elbowed Harry hard and he mumbled out a pained, "Mm-hmm," nodding his head for emphasis.

"Well, congratulations, mate! You finally got yourself a nice piece of meat!" Dean commented, appraisingly.

"Oi! Watch it! That's my sister you're talking about."

"Oh, right. Sorry, Ron."

"Well, even though I don't like Dean's wording, I do have to say that it's good to see you with a girl, Harry." Ron said, beaming. Normally, the red-head was very picky about whom Ginny got to date, but with Harry, his best friend, Ron hardly even thought twice about the idea. It was comforting to see Harry finally dating someone, though his own suspicions still lived quietly within.

"Yeah, me too." Harry said, chuckling nervously.

"Mmm." Ginny made a sound of contentment and made herself comfortable, leaning against Harry's chest, blocking his way to his food.

_Oh, come on!_ This was getting to be too much. The brunette was so close to simply calling the entire deal off; if she got to be any worse than this, there was no way he could put up with it. For the time being, though, he tried to keep himself together and work his way around the inconveniences she so happily threw out at him.

He tried stretching out his arm to go around her, but the moment he did, she grabbed it and wrapped it around her. He immediately put on a tight smile in order to make sure that he didn't give in to the temptation of simply shoving her idiotic self off of him.

DHDHDH

Harry was only too happy to leave the moment the lunch bell rang and head over to his favorite class of the day: literature. Finally, he would be away from the person he hated, and closer to the person he loved. He walked hurriedly down the hall, toward Draco's class only to be stopped by none other than the Devil herself.

He nearly growled with frustration. "Yes, Ginny?" He asked impatiently.

"What? Can't I get in a quick minute with my boyfriend before he leaves to class?"

"Not unless you want to be late for your own class."

"Oh relax. My class can wait," She said, slowly pushing him against a set of lockers just outside of Draco's classroom. Harry could almost sob with the irony of it all. He was so close, yet so far.

But then, the worst thing imaginable in Harry's mind happened. Ginny slammed Harry against the lockers roughly and, deciding to see what all the commotion was about, Draco stepped out of his classroom, and watched the scene before him.

Harry closed his eyes regretfully and wished with all his power to disappear at that very moment. Not only was he about to be kissed by Ginny in front of Draco, but he also had yet to tell Draco of the new plan, which involved him grudgingly dating Ginny. He could only hope that the blonde would figure it out for himself.

With an unexpected force, Ginny pressed her lips roughly against Harry's and grabbed his hands, placing one tightly against her buttocks, and leading the other toward her right breast, but Harry swiftly slipped his hand out of her grip and rested it, instead, behind her neck. Anger taking over, she harshly shoved her tongue into his mouth and Harry weakly reciprocated.

"Ahem." Draco cleared his throat, his face void of emotion and carefully controlled. "Ginny, Harry, although I am sure that your hormones are quite rampant at this age, I must remind you that it is against the rules to be conducting actions of such intimacy on school grounds. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to give the two of you detention. You'd better get going now, Ginny. You wouldn't want to be late for your next class."

"_Of course,_" she muttered out, scathingly, before walking away.

Harry looked down in shame, staring at his right hand, which had just moments ago been pressed so firmly against Ginny's bottom. When he looked back up, Draco was gone. The late bell rang, and he hurried into the classroom, his heart beating wildly.

_Please oh please let Draco have known that wasn't really me. Please_, Harry begged silently. He could not tell, however, as the class went on. The blonde carried on the class as usual, and paid no extra attention to Harry than any other student. There was no hidden wink or glance cleverly snuck in. By the time the period ended, Harry was frustrated to no end, and when he began his packing very slowly – so that he could stay and speak to Draco for a minute – the blonde turned to him with an unreadable smile and told him to hurry up or he'd be late for his next class.

_Oh God._ Harry thought to himself, miserably.

DHDHDH

That was it. He wasn't going to let Ginny blackmail him like this. She was ruining everything between Draco and himself. Draco was now mad at him and he was angry with himself, and he hated Ginny to no end. There was no possible way on earth that he was going to let this little charade of hers continue. He quickly caught up with her before she went off to her next class and pulled her aside. "Ginny, I can't do this."

"Can't do what?" Her eyes narrowed, daring him to continue.

"Listen, I don't want to be your stupid boyfriend. I don't like you in that way, and no matter what you do, that's never going to change. Sure, we could pretend to be in love and all that crap, but it wouldn't be real, and you know it."

"You don't know what you're saying."

"Yes, I do."

"Think about it, Harry. Don't you realize what I could do to you? You're not in your right mind; if you were, we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

"No, but I-"

"Listen, I've got to get to class," she said brusquely. "Finish off your classes, go home, take a nice, long nap, and tomorrow, it'll be like we never even had this conversation. See you, _love._" She pulled him into another, quick, but rough kiss, and left off to her next class.

DHDHDH

As soon as the final bell rang, Harry rushed out of the classroom and over towards the literature room. He impatiently waited for all of the students to file out and then ran inside, shutting the door behind him. Draco whipped around, shocked. "What are you doing?" His voice was a bit angry and Harry couldn't help it. He become a messy puddle of mush and began letting out everything in a rush.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Me and Ginny, we're not really anything! Please don't be man, please! I swear, it's just that she blackmailed me. I had to do it, Draco. She-"

"Harry, Harry! Calm down. You're a mess. Sit down, and breathe." Harry took a seat in Draco's teachers' seat and did just that. His mind didn't actually clear up too much, but it gave him something to do. "Of course that little show with Ginny wasn't real; it was obvious in your face. You kept grimacing and trying to pull away. You really are a bad actor," he finished off with a slight chuckle.

"You think that was funny?" Harry exclaimed, anger rising within him.

"No, I don't. I'm just trying to lighten the mood a bit."

"But then, if you weren't mad…why were you ignoring me in class?"

"First of all, I _was_ mad, but not at you. I'm really starting to hate that Weasley girl. And secondly, I wasn't ignoring you, but of course I wasn't giving you special attention either. We're supposed to be especially careful now, re_mem_ber? Which is also why I was upset when you just stormed in here like that. You've got to be more careful."

Harry smiled sheepishly, a hint of red blush spreading itself freely across Harry's cheeks. Draco rolled his eyes and planted a chaste kiss onto Harry's lips. Ecstatic to finally be a part of a kiss he enjoyed, the brunette let out an eager moan and deepened the kiss. He soon left Draco's lips in anticipation to explore more and began kissing down his jaw, and further down his neck, slowly unbuttoning Draco's shirt. He had just slipped his hand in when Draco grabbed it and pulled away.

"Woah," the blonde said, his breathing uneven. "You've got to slow it down, Harry. Trust me, I want this just as much as you do, but we can't very well do it right here in the school."

Harry furrowed his brows in frustration before giving a sigh of resignation. Draco was right and he knew it.

Sensing the teen's disappointment, Draco slid an arm around Harry and pulled him in close, giving him a quick kiss. "Don't worry, we'll figure out a way to get you back into my house." Smirking evilly, he then added, "Besides, don't you want to save all your energy for that _lovely_ Ginny?"

"Oh, ugh. What are you talking about? There is no way I'm going to go through all that again." Shaking his head vigorously, Harry made sure to stay firm on his choice.

"I know it sucks. I mean, what relationship wouldn't be absolutely unbearable after getting a taste of _moi?_" Harry rolled his eyes and gave Draco a playful shove before the blonde continued. "But you have to stay with her. At least until the end of the school year, and then-"

"What? Draco, I am _not_ staying with her. I've already told her it's over between us. I saw how mad you were –"

"I wasn't mad at you. I told you already, I know it's just a –"

"That doesn't even matter. I just don't want to be with her. Why should I do something that makes me unhappy?"

"I know how it must feel-"

"No, you don't! It's easy for you to tell me to just date her, but you're not the one slobbering all over someone you hate."

"It is _not_ easy for me, Harry. How do you think I feel watching you with someone else when I know you should be with me? But I know it's for the best and that you have to keep this up unless you want us to be caught."

"No, I don't care. We'll figure out another way to keep this a secret. Besides, she doesn't even have any actual evidence to prove that we-"

"Severus suspects us, too." Draco commented quietly.

"What?" The green-eyed youth stopped all thought at the blonde's previous words.

"I didn't want to tell you because I didn't feel there was any need to make you worry more than you already do, but if you're going to end this fling with Ginny, then we're going to be in very serious trouble, Harry. Not only is a student a real-life witness of our relationship, but a teacher strongly suspects us. He told me that he would be keeping a close eye on the two of us and if you break up with Ginny…" The older man trailed off, knowing that the rest did not need to be said aloud.

Harry stayed quiet for a long moment, thinking carefully. Finally, he looked Draco in the eye and said, "I know everything's getting pretty difficult, but if you really think about it, who's going to believe Ginny? She's just, and forgive me for being so harsh, a girl who's jealous that Harry Potter doesn't want to be her boyfriend and so she has to make up some huge, idiotic lie because she's so frustrated, she never thought about the consequences that might take place for other people.

"Or at least, that's what everyone else will believe. And Snape, he's just a grouchy old biology teacher who despises me so much, that he thinks to himself, 'Why not get the little brat in trouble?' I mean, honestly, I have never given anyone any reason to believe that I'm gay and my parents know I went on a date with Luna, so that'll definitely show that I'm straight. I know you might think that I haven't thought things through and that I'm making a big mistake, but I've made my decision.

"I am not going to keep on dating Ginny for some empty threat. Nothing's going to happen."

"You don't know that, Harry-" Draco protested, but was quickly cut off.

"It doesn't matter. I've made my decision and I'm calling the whole thing off, officially, tomorrow." Harry abruptly got up from the chair and began walking towards the door.

"Harry, wait-" but the brunette had already rushed passed the door and was walking purposefully down the hall, ignoring Draco's calls. With a sigh, Draco walked back into the room and leaned against the wall.

_Something terrible is going to happen. I know it._

**AN: **Oooh! This chapter was super long in comparison to the others…I think. :P Well, anyway, I hope you guys liked it. And in the next chapter…DUN DUN DUN! Ginny will have her revenge. Muahahahaha! I'm sorry, but the story must continue as planned. :(

At least I kept this chapter a little light and (hopefully) humorous throughout certain sections…or at least I tried. Being funny is sort of hard, so all I can say is that I tried and I hope it worked. I want to try to keep this story as light as possible for as long as I can. So even though the chapters are definitely going to get more serious, I'm going to try my very hardest to keep some parts light and happy. :)

PLEASE REVIEW! )

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	16. Depression

Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! I'm making sure to post on time this time, so yay! Hope you like the chappy. :-)

But first, just a quick note, a reviewer mentioned that blackmail is illegal. Thanks for the tip. ;-) However, I didn't know that at all! So, even though this is totally wrong and I shouldn't do it, but I'm just going to exclude that little fact so that I can keep on going with my story. Otherwise, it changes everything all around! Well, ok, maybe not **_everything_**, but it might make things a bit more difficult. :-P Anyhow, just this once, pretend that blackmail isn't illegal. :-)Thanks.

Chapter 16

_**Depression**_

Harry hurriedly walked up and into his room, roughly slamming the door behind him. He was going to do it. He was going to break it off with Ginny first thing tomorrow. He was _not_ going to get scared and back out. There was no doubt in his mind.

_Well, maybe just a little,_ he thought to himself, traitorously.

"Gah," he let out a frustrated groan and dropped onto his bed, most ungracefully. The brunette heard a knock at the door, but remained silent, wishfully hoping that the person, whoever it was, would go away.

"Hey, are you alright, honey?" His mother asked, stepping into the room without waiting for a reply. "You slammed the door pretty roughly, back there."

"Oh, mum," Harry whispered quietly, as if afraid to have her hear the spoken words.

"What is it?" She had, by now, walked over to him and gingerly sat down beside Harry on the bed. Lily brushed away a few locks of hair out of Harry's eyes, looking closely at him. After Harry didn't reply for a moment, she decided it best to let him think quietly, rather than pushing him into talking about something unwillingly. She lingered by his side, stroking his hair lovingly, and waited for him to come around and say something.

Finally, the brunette let out a sigh and got up, settling himself into a kneeling position, sitting atop his calves. He looked at his mother for a moment before letting his head drop. How he longed to simply rest his head on Lily's shoulder and hug her, but he was embarrassed, and so he simply kept to himself.

However, as all mothers can, Lily could tell her son was in need of some affection, and she promptly pulled him into a loving embrace. "Oh, Harry, what's wrong? You can tell me."

Could he? Could he, really?

He didn't know what was wrong with him, but now that the opportunity to tell someone about his relationship with Draco was so close, he felt all his emotions rushing up and trying to swallow him whole. He just wanted to blurt everything out and let his mother know everything that happened, from the moment he first spotted that sinfully beautiful blonde hair while walking off Hermione's steam, to the moment just before he'd left Draco this afternoon.

The red-head pulled away slightly and looked into her son's eyes before saying, "Harry, why are you so sad? You look as though you want to cry. What is it? You don't have to be afraid, sweetie. You can tell me; I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

It's funny how a person never truly realizes just how sad they are until someone points it out to them. Harry, for one, could relate to this idea entirely as a new wave of emotions abruptly swept through him, and he tried to hold back a sob, albeit, unsuccessfully. His eyes prickled dangerously before unleashing a drizzle of tears down his smooth, and now rosy, cheeks.

Lily immediately became dreadfully nervous and, grabbing Harry's face with her gentle hands and pulling him closer, she demanded, "Harry, tell me what's wrong." This was no longer a sweet, soft matter, but an important and urgent matter. Lily feared for her son and felt grief overwhelming her at the heart-breaking sight of the sobbing youth.

Harry could sense his mother's concern and opened his mouth to finally let everything out. He wanted to tell his mother of all his mixed emotions, confused feelings, hatred towards Ginny and towards society; his anger at Draco for not supporting him in his decision to break things off with Ginny and for not being as perfect and in control as Harry imagined the blonde to be. He wanted to tell his mother how he felt guilty for wishing so much from the blonde, and how he was so sorry to Ron and Hermione for not being honest with him and how he was even more sorry towards her and James.

The poor, young brunette wanted to simply let everything out, but he heard Draco's voice in his head telling him not to. Then he thought of all the possible disasters that could come from telling his mother, even if she loved him. She would, no doubt, be terribly shocked and then, perhaps, go frantic and wild. She might call the police without thought, or try to reason with Harry, hoping for it to all be a joke.

Harry knew that his mother was open-minded and would love him no matter what, but he also knew that she was very strict when it came to doing what she thought was "right", and dating his teacher – whether male or female - was definitely _not_ under her list of "right" things.

There was no way he could possibly tell her.

So, with a slow shake of his head, he whispered out a choked, "Nothing, mom, nothing. It's just stuff; nothing too important. I guess… maybe I just -" another small sob interrupted him half way through his sentence before he continued. "Maybe I just need a nap."

The intelligent red-head knew there was more, much more to be said about this matter, but let it rest for the time being. Harry would come to her when he was ready. There was no sense in pushing him into giving something he wasn't ready to let go of. She nodded silently and, placing a tender kiss on her son's forehead, stood to leave the room.

"Mom," Harry called out, just as she was heading towards the door.

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

She smiled lovingly and left the room, closing the door with a soft _click_.

DHDHDH

Harry had decided to take his own advice, and had promptly fallen into a deep slumber just moments after his mother had left him alone in his room. He slept through the whole afternoon and right past dinner. His mother had not woken him up, and the brunette could only guess, as he slowly awoke from his peaceful sleep, that she had thought a long nap would truly do him some good.

The only problem now was that it was 4:30 a.m., and there was no way Harry was going to be able to get back to sleep.

_At least my head feels clear,_ he thought to himself as he raised himself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed, curling his toes into the soft strings of the carpet floor.

And, indeed, his mind was clear. It was not so clear that he now had all the answer to his each and every problem, but it was clear enough so that he could concentrate on the situation at hand and thoroughly think things through.

The slender teen could now admit to himself that simply calling things off with Ginny just out of the blue was a bit rash, as he hadn't even lasted an entire day with her. However, the idea of going back to that – in his opinion – horrid wench, was just too much for him. A sudden thought flashed briefly through his mind, but he quickly tried to push it away. It would never work.

Or would it?

Perhaps Harry could tell Ron…

_It'll never work,_ He thought to himself. _Ron would kill me._

But what if he didn't? The brunette calculated that he had a little over two hours before he would have to begin preparations for class today, so why not think through the idea – even if only to humor himself?

If he told Ron about his relationship with Draco, then he could ask Ron to speak with Ginny and tell her to leave him alone. Of course, it wouldn't be so easy. He would have to pull Ron aside where the two could not be overheard, and then he would have to slowly ease Ron into the truth. Then, of course, he would have to deal with an angry red-head for a few moments, but perhaps he could calm him down. Ron had been Harry's best friend for many years now, and vice versa. Why wouldn't Ron understand Harry and be happy for his best friend?

It could really work.

He knew that Draco didn't want him to tell anyone, but if this plan worked, then really, it would all be for the best. The youth smiled to himself happily, hopeful that his plan might work. Now what to do with the next two hours…?

_Crap. My homework!_

DHDHDH

Harry walked to school a few hours later, determined to go straight to Ron and tell the red-head everything about Draco. He would explain the whole situation and then, surely, Ron would stand by his side as any best friend would, and he would make Ginny stop being such a royal pain in the ass.

He walked quickly and purposefully towards his school and once there, began searching for Ron. He and Hermione were usually milling about aimlessly due to Hermione's fear of arriving late. She always made sure to go to school at least fifteen minutes early and, unfortunately, she always made sure to drag her boyfriend along with her, as well.

After only a few, short moments, he spotted the two lounging on the grass, surrounded by a couple of friends: Seamus, Dean, and Neville. Harry idly wondered if Hermione ever felt annoyed at being surrounded by more guys than girls, before heading over to the group.

"Hey, Harry," Neville greeted, having been the first to see him. The others soon chorused in their own greetings after Neville brought the brunette to their attention, and Harry quickly muttered a hasty "hello," to them all in return.

"Umm…hey, Ron?" Harry began, frantically trying to push away his nervousness.

"Yeah, mate?"

"… … … Er…never mind." _It would cause too much suspicion if I pulled him aside right in front of everyone, anyway. _The youth thought in an effort to comfort himself for his cowardice.

"O_kay_…" The red-head's voice dripped with both confusion and just a bit of suspicion.

_Crap._ Getting up his nerve, he said, "Actually, you now what? I have to tell you something, Ron."

"Alright, shoot."

"In private."

"Oh…er…okay."

The freckled teen stood up and followed Harry awkwardly. The shorter of the two had no idea where he was leading Ron, but before he knew it, they were standing just outside of the school grounds, secluded by various trees and bushes.

Ron looked around, confused. "What are we doing here?"

"I have to tell you something."

"So you've said."

Harry rolled his eyes and forced himself not to get angry with Ron's condescending tone.

"I was just joking," Ron quickly added, noting Harry's annoyance.

"I know, I know. It's just that…" Harry rubbed his face with the palm of his hand, tiredly. "Ok, I may have been doing something bad, but…I mean, it doesn't feel wrong, and I'm not ashamed of it." Ron looked at him worriedly, but remained quiet, allowing him to continue.

"He doesn't want me to tell you, and I know I shouldn't, but I mean…I can. You're my best friend. I can trust you with anything, right?" Ron, looking more and more apprehensive with every word, nodded slowly.

"Well," Harry took in a deep breath and then said in one quick breath, "I'm-dating-Draco-and-I'm-scared-because-I-don't-know-what-to-do-and-Ginny's-just-making-everything-worse!"

Ron's eyes went wide and, not believing what he'd just heard, asked quietly, "What?"

"I'm…I'm dating Draco."

The red-head remained silent for several long moments before turning dangerously red and yelling in exclamation, "YOU'RE CHEATING ON MY SISTER!"

"Ron, please, be quiet!" Harry pleaded, desperately. "I'm not really dating Ginny. You see, she found out – about me and Draco, I mean. And then… then she threatened to tell everyone if I didn't stop seeing him, so I lied. I told her that I'd stopped dating him so that she would leave me alone, but of course, she didn't believe me. She said that the only way I could prove I wasn't dating him was to start dating her, which makes absolutely no sense! The only reason she wanted me to date her was to get back at me for leaving her at the dance, and I admit, that yes, it was a mean thing to do, but I didn't do it on purpose. I just sort of… forgot. I was frustrated that night, and I just… I left." He didn't see any need to add in what he did after leaving the dance, so he simply stopped there and looked up at Ron searchingly.

"Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight. You are dating our _teacher _who is also a _guy?_"

"Yes…" He answered meekly.

"When did you suddenly become gay!"

"That's not the _point_, Ron! Listen, you've _got_ to tell Ginny to leave me alone and-"

"How can you be dating a guy! And Draco…he's way too old! I mean, he's a bloody teacher!"

"He's not _that_ old… He's only twenty-three."

"That makes him nearly a _decade_ older than you!"

"Ron, it's only seven years, and besides, when I'm eighteen, he'll be twenty-five, and that really isn't that much of a difference at all!"

"But he's a _guy_!"

"I _know_ he's a bloody guy! And Hermione's a girl! Who really cares! You love Hermione and I love Draco. What difference does it make?"

"But he's a _guy_!" The freckled teen repeated again, being unable to take his mind away from that specific detail.

Harry remained silent, though his insides were roaring with rage. He knew that Ron's thinking was narrow-minded and unfair, but there wasn't enough time to change Ron's views on things. He just needed Ron to accept him enough to get Ginny to leave him alone. Then, Harry could worry about getting Ron to understand how he felt more thoroughly.

Ron glared, then got a look of disappointment on his face before shaking his head. "I kept telling myself it was all in my head; kept ignoring all the times when you stared at the stupid git like some bloody lovesick puppy, and how you always talked about him so fondly. It was all there, clear as ice, but I kept trying to pretend it wasn't true…and yet, it was." He said nothing for a moment, and then, looking very torn, he shouted, "How am _I_ supposed to feel about this! Huh? You're my best friend, but you're doing something so… so dis_gus_ting! It's even i_lle_gal! I want to be able to stand up and fight for you; I really do, but… but what you're doing is just _wrong._ Ginny had a right to threaten you the way she did."

Harry looked shocked and hurt and then, livid. How dare Ron pass Ginny's actions as not only acceptable, but right? Before Harry could cut in, however, Ron added, "And I have a right mind to tell of your revolting affair with him, myself!"

"No!" Harry cried out frantically. Draco had been right; he had been right all along. He never should have told anyone; not even Ron, his best friend. "Please, Ron, don't! I trusted you! You can't tell, please! You have no idea how much trouble he could get into!"

"I don't care. Maybe it would knock some sense back into you!"

"Ron, please, don't!" His voice was bordering hysterical, and it took him all his willpower not to let the threatening tears fall free. "Please, please don't tell." His voice was no more than a whisper, for if he strained his voice any more, his tears would surely reveal themselves in great numbers.

Ron watched Harry's face, filled with worry and grief. He believed that what Harry was doing was wrong in every way possible, but he also knew that no matter what, Harry was still the closest friend he'd ever had. With a last, irritated sigh, he murmured, "I won't tell."

Harry's face lit up immeasurably, and he opened his mouth to thank Ron, but the red-head quickly put up his hand to stop him. "I won't tell anyone, because you are my best friend, but as long as you keep up this little charade with him, I want _nothing_ to do with you."

Harry stood, frozen to the spot, as he watched his best friend's slowly receding form. Moments passed and Harry stayed in a lost daze, refusing to accept Ron's final, departing words, until the school bell rang loudly, pulling him uncaringly out of his sorrowfully dejected stupor. He raked his hand tiredly through his hair before setting off back to school.

DHDHDH

_How could I have been so stupid?_ Harry scolded himself. Draco had told him time and time again _not_ to tell anyone, but did Harry listen? No. And now he found himself in worse trouble. Not only was Ron unwilling to associate himself in any way with Harry, but he now had to face Ginny on his own to break things off with her. He could only be thankful that Ron had agreed not to tell, however unkindly.

His classes passed by in a blur, and he absorbed absolutely none of the information learned that day. He was dreading the end of his classes once again, but decided to simply worry rather than pay attention, as he was so pitifully lost and confused about everything that there was simply no possibility of following along with anything, even if he tried.

During the previous classes, the brunette had already decided not to mention his conversation with Ron. He was much too embarrassed of it and he most definitely did not want Draco to worry even more. There was no need. Ron may be an annoying bigot at times, but when he gave his word, he gave his word. Harry trusted that Ron would not tell.

His mind continued to wander freely and, before he knew it, class had ended and he was heading off to lunch; heading off to hell. Ron wasn't going to speak to him, he knew, and Ginny- she was a whole other problem in itself. He took his time buying his lunch before seating himself at his regular table, making sure to keep a safe distance away from Ron. He stayed silent throughout the duration of lunch, ignoring Ginny as best as he could, even when she began to lay sloppy, wet kisses down his neck.

Hermione seemed suspicious at his lack of conversation, but decided to simply observe him rather than to confront him, for once. Perhaps he would say something on his own. If not, she would corner him later.

Soon the bell rang again, signaling the end of lunch, and Harry quickly stood up. He was about to leave hurriedly before telling himself that if he was going to do this, he might as well do it now. Muttering something about needing to talk, he pulled Ginny aside.

"I thought about it, and I still feel the same way. I want this to end- now." He was too tired and depressed to care much about being embarrassed or nervous about his wording. He wanted things to end immediately so that he could get on with the rest of his life. Everything was happening so suddenly and it was honestly beginning to weigh him down more heavily than he'd ever thought possible. He just didn't care anymore.

"Alright, fine." Her face was blank and completely void of any emotion. "Remember, this was _your_ choice."

Harry simply rolled his eyes and walked away. _Sure, whatever that means, _he thought to himself. He didn't care.

DHDHDH

He sat himself down heavily in his seat, not even bothering to look up. Even the thought of Draco couldn't bring up his mood. He daydreamed during the entire period, not listening to a word the blonde teacher said.

He felt heavy, as though a force of a thousand pounds was weighing him down, forcing him to drag it along everywhere he went. He felt weak and dreary, and he just wanted the world to stop; he wanted everything to stop, but if not, then it didn't matter anyway.

He didn't care.

Depression leaked through his eyes in the form of invisible tears; escaped through his pores like an odorless mist; surrounded his very aura as a group of hungry lions viciously attack their prey. He was lost in an empty world whose only companion was sorrow.

The class soon ended, and he wouldn't have noticed save for Ernie accidentally bumping into his chair.

He sighed, standing, and then left through the door without a glance in Draco's direction. The brunette dragged his feet heavily along the green, square-tiled floors of the school hallways and sat down heavily in a chair, bracing himself for the final class of the day.

Usually, he'd want to crawl into his bed and hide away from the world forever, but he didn't care if the world saw him or not; he didn't care if they laughed at him, or if they mocked him in disgust. He just sat quietly, uncaring, waiting…waiting…waiting.

Waiting for something he didn't even know.

DHDHDH

Draco taught his final class of the day in a hurry, eager to end it. The blonde had been left completely mystified by his beloved Harry. What had been wrong with the young teen? He had known something would go wrong after the brunette ended his faux relationship with the red-head, but it'd had nothing to do with Harry. Rather, he imagined that Harry, at least, would be happy and relieved once things with Ginny had ended completely.

He looked at the clock on the wall, just above the doorframe, distractedly. He silently counted down the minutes before the students would depart from his class, leaving him alone to think.

_Only twenty more minutes, _he thought to himself. Slowly, minute by minute ticked by, until there were only ten minutes left in the class. Now he had only to wait for ten more minutes to go by, and the bell would ring the end of class and he would dismiss them all hurriedly, but he never got to shoo away his class.

With seven minutes left in the class, Principle Dumbledore came to the door, accompanied by Mr. Snape.

"Albus? Is there something I can do for you?" Draco inquired, curiously, a sick feeling in his stomach.

"Yes, actually," the principle replied. "I think we need to have a serious talk. Come with me; Severus will watch after the class for the remainder of the period."

Severus walked into the classroom, sending Draco a smug smile. The blonde slowly walked towards Dumbledore, a small smile on his face set in place to hide his true anxiety. He followed the elderly man out of the classroom and down the halls.

The classroom quickly broke into hurried, yet hushed whispers, so eager and curious that not even Snapes yelling, threats of detention, and soon after, actual assigning of detentions, could stop them.

**AN:**

DUN DUN DUN! Now, it finally begins! Isn't it just terrible? But do not fear! For, no matter what happens from now until the end of the story, I promise you that I will squeeze in at least one more semi-sex scene between our favorite couple! Semi because I can't be graphic due to the rules of Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and please, please review! I feel like I'm getting less reviews. :-(

I don't know if you guys know this, but reviews really do mean a lot to all writers, and I am no exception. Please, you don't have to sign in. Leaving a review of even just one word at least lets me know that you like the story. Then, it pushes me to want to write more.

So **_PLEASE _**R&R! That means **both** R's. Read **and **Review! Thanks a million!

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	17. Needing

Hello, everyone!

First, of course, thank you so much for the reviews! I mean, really – WOW! I have **never** received so many reviews for one chapter! You guys totally rock and I appreciate every single one. I swear, as I'm reading the reviews, there's always this big goofy smile on my face. And if people try to talk to me while I'm reading them, I'm like, "Shhh! I'm reading, here!" lol

Your guys are totally awesome! Thanks, you guys!

So now I just need to clear something up really quickly and then I can move on to the chapter. :-)

**_Note:_** Alright, I've received a few reviews confused because of the difference in laws around different places in the world, so I'm just going to state this right now. I am American. Therefore, because it would be too confusing for me otherwise, I'm just going to go with the typical American laws for this story. I'm saying typical because every state has its own laws. If you don't know them, Dumbledore will pretty much summarize them for you in this chapter. Hope that clears up a few things!

Now, onto the story!

Chapter 17

_**Needing…**_

_Another horrible day, _Harry thought to himself spitefully as he walked up the steps to the main entrance of the school - his head hanging low, his feet dragging sorrowfully, and his arms hanging limply by his sides.

The brunette had walked home the day before, just as depressed as ever, and had promptly fallen asleep on his bed upon the arrival of his home. His mother had not questioned him, noting that he might just want some time alone for a bit. She had woken him up some time later to inquire if he'd like to eat a bit of dinner, and had soon after left sadly at his quietly murmured reply of, "no."

He had woken up, once again, just as the sun was rising from its own, warm bed and into the sky. Reflecting upon the events of the day before, he still had yet to feel regret for any of it. The youth did not honestly see Ginny as a true threat, and even if she was, Harry couldn't bring himself to care. He had forgotten to do his homework again, but this time, he didn't scramble to complete it. Instead, he spent the few hours he had before the time for class preparation had to begin staring at the wall opposite the bed on which he sat motionless, thoughtless.

Finally, when the sounds of his parents moving around reached his ears and woke him out of his stupor, he mechanically began his morning ritual of showering, getting dressed, and so on.

Now, as he stood at the main entrance of the school, waiting for the clock to tick by and set off the first bell of the day, the young brunette began to feel nervous twinges in his stomach. They felt slightly new to him, and he tried to ignore them as best as he could.

Something was wrong.

He gulped uneasily and forced himself to walk calmly towards his locker as he heard the bell sound loudly in his ears. _I don't care. I don't care. _He slowly began to feel the worry flood through him and thought to himself silently, _I don't care. I don't care. _

If he continued to tell himself this, then perhaps he would fall back into his phase of depression and get a move on with his life. He didn't want to become enveloped in a ball of anxiety all over again. He wanted to be through with all of that and simply go through the day as neutral and calm as possible, but that was quickly becoming a problem.

He could feel the eyes of several students upon him, and as he turned his head slowly to the sides, he came in contact with many: angry, hating, condescending eyes; pitying ones, sorrowful ones; some filled with disgust and some filled with disappointment; others, with disbelief and shock.

What was going on?

He could feel his breath catching in his throat, and suddenly, it seemed as though there wasn't enough oxygen in the room. The many owners of all these eyes were clutching greedily at his air and stealing it away, leaving him with a meager amount; leaving him to gasp desperately for air as he walked hurriedly to his locker.

Whispers suddenly broke through the oxygen-lacking air as he passed his fellow classmates. They where hurried and hushed; angry and loudly silent in that penetrating way in which only some can successfully produce; quiet and skeptical; slow and smug.

The frenzied, secretive words only fueled him, and filled his feet with that much more speed. He hurried over to his locker as it finally came within sight, and rushed to turn the correct locker combination. His shaking hands messed it up a few times, but when he finally put in the right number combination and opened his locker door, it was as though he had opened the door to a room of new troubles.

Instantaneously, several pieces of paper fell out and suddenly, the whispers were no longer whispers, but more confidant, outspoken words; fragments of sentences; arrogant declarations.

"… him and Draco kissing!"

"… Harry… she said…. More disgusting than…"

"I heard…."

"No way! I don't believe it…"

"…but Harry always seemed so good…"

"Look, there he is and…"

"What are all those papers…?"

"I put one in, myself. That guy deserves a good…"

He held out one trembling hand and bent down to pick up one particular note. Slowly, he unfolded it to read, **_Dirty fag!_**

His hands dropped the paper immediately and he paled several shades whiter. He saw Ron hesitantly come up from behind him and tried to turn a murderous glare at him, but all he could manage was a desperate, hurt, and disbelieving look; his eyes pleading for the red-head to prove his thoughts incorrect.

Ron shook his head slowly and whispered, "I didn't tell, Harry. I swear it."

The brunette took in a shaky breath and turned his face away. "Harry," the freckled teen whispered even more softly. The other merely shook his head slowly, wishing for everyone to disappear.

Then, a thought suddenly hit him.

His head jerked up anxiously and he asked urgently, in a hushed whisper, "What about Draco? What happened to him?"

Ron shook his head, helplessly. "All I know is what everyone else has been saying all morning. They say Dumbledore came and pulled him out for a talk yesterday, just before the end of his last class."

Harry began to turn, ready to see Draco; not caring about any of the consequences that would come from running straight to his room. The secret was out already; everyone knew. There was nothing left to hide.

"Don't bother." Ron said, laying a hand gently on Harry's shoulder, before quickly pulling it away, looking as though he was fighting an inner battle with himself. "I mean, he's not here. There's a substitute that's taking his place and…" He gave an unsure glance at Harry's grief-stricken features before continuing. "I don't know if he'll be back."

Harry's eyes went wide, and he held back the urge to shout out an unbelieving "_WHAT?" _Where was Draco, now? What had Dumbledore decided? Had they asked the blonde any questions? Was Draco going to be alright?

And, as many more questions began flying hazardously through his mind, he realized, with a sudden pang of some unknown feeling, he did care.

DHDHDH

Harry made sure to rush to all his classes in between periods so that he wouldn't have to run into anyone. He spent his classes hunched over and trying to hide himself, and his teachers didn't bother him. None of them asked him questions or tried to bring any attention to him. Harry felt safe in his classes – no one would dare approach him in front of a teacher.

That is, of course, until biology class rolled around.

From the moment Harry stepped into the classroom, he could tell things were only going to get worse. And Snape proved Harry correct throughout the entire duration of the class, as he picked on Harry unmercifully.

"Potter – explain symbiosis." Harry looked around helplessly. Not that he actually paid attention during biology class, but he usually made sure to take down a few notes every once in a while and at least understand the basics of classroom discussions. He did not, however, remember this supposed… _symbiosis_ whatsoever.

So, as his only possible answer, the younger brunette shook his head.

"Fine, then. Define commensalism. No? What about Mutualism? You don't know that either?" Harry simply stared helplessly, not understanding a word of what Snap was saying. "I find this rather interesting. You see, all of this was on last night's homework assignment, and if you did it, then you should know the answers to these questions. Now tell me, did you do last night's homework?"

_Crap!_ He was caught. The brunette wished he had cared about his homework this morning. Now what was he supposed to do? He wouldn't dare tell Snape that he didn't do it, but what other choice did he have? He simply stood still, hoping for Snape to ignore him, walk away, and note down his zeros in private.

But of course, this did not happen.

"Show me your homework!" He barked out.

"I…I don't have it."

"And why not?" his smug smirk grew more unbearable with every second that ticked by.

"Because I…Because I didn't…I didn't do it." The emerald-eyed youth looked down, embarrassed, as snickers and giggles broke out through the classroom. Normally, Snape would have silenced them all with the quickest of glances, for happiness of any form greatly displeased him. However, if the amusement was directed towards Harry's embarrassment and idiocy, the snarky old teacher could most definitely make an exception.

"I thought as much. Two zeros: one for not doing your homework, and two for being unprepared for my class while being questioned." Just as he turned around and Harry thought the worst was over, Snape said over his shoulder, "Oh, and detention. Today."

He suppressed a groan of protest before running a hand quickly through his hair and preparing himself for the rest of the horrid things that Snape would undoubtedly do to him with the thirty-five minutes still remaining in the class period.

DHDHDH

Geometry – his last class before lunch.

The brunette teen found himself dreading lunch more than ever before. It was odd, he realized, as he thought it over in his head. Most people loved lunch and waited for it desperately; it was a chance to finally get away from class and get together with friends. Harry could remember back before Draco came; back before any of these problems started. He used to love lunch just as much as anyone else.

But not anymore.

Now he dreaded lunch more than anything else. He had no friends to go to, today. He could just picture them all glaring at him with disgust and disappointment. The teachers at least, although probably fully against him as well, did not outwardly show it. He had no doubt in his mind that they were just as repulsed with him as anyone else.

Even Ron, his best friend, had turned his back on him. Though, to the red-head's credit, Harry could tell that Ron had kept his relationship with Draco a secret. Ginny was the one who had told. Of that, he was sure.

It was his own fault for underestimating her. Draco had warned him, but as with everything else lately, Harry had decided to take things into his own hands and do as he saw fit, rather than listening to the blonde.

Now he was trapped with all these problems, and he could only imagine how much worse things were for Draco. He sighed to himself. He couldn't believe how stupid he'd been.

With ten minutes left in the class period, he could slowly feel his stomach sinking further and further within himself until he was sure it was going to disappear. He wanted to hurl. He could feel it; he was going to be sick.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and a girl timidly walked in. Harry thought she was a freshman, but he couldn't be sure. She had straight brown hair that she combed in a way that hid her face. She seemed jumpy and nervous as she said, "Erm…excuse me, Miss, but the principle wants to see Harry Potter."

All heads in the classroom immediately turned in his direction and, ignoring the outright staring, he quickly packed his things up – seeing as to how it was nearly lunch and he wouldn't have time to come back to pick them up afterward – and followed the girl out of the room.

She walked next to him, intending to lead him all the way to Principle Dumbledore's office, quite unnecessarily. No one spoke for a few moments until Harry said, "I can get to the Principle's office on my own, you know."

"Yes, b-but," she began, in a jittery manner. "I'm supposed to walk you all the way there to make sure you don't make a-any detours on the way." At Harry's shocked look, she quickly added, "D-don't worry. I've had to get people from classes before and they always make me walk with the people all the way to the office. It's not just you."

"Oh." It was possible, he supposed. He'd never been called to the principle's office by a student before, so he couldn't exactly say if the girl was lying or not.

As they drew closer to the principle's office, the mousy girl finally asked quietly, "Is- is it true? Did you and that teacher really…?"

He simply glared at her, and she quickly stopped talking, choosing to stare down at the floor for the rest of the walk. They finally arrived and, after giving a quick knock on Dumbledore's office door, she hurriedly scampered away.

"Come in."

Harry stepped in dubiously and stood in front of the elderly man awkwardly for a moment before he gestured to the brunette to take a seat.

"Harry," he began. "It has recently come to my attention that there might be some…ah… particular relationship between Mr. Malfoy and yourself." The youth remained quiet, opting that saying nothing at all was better than saying something stupid. After a few moments of silence had passed, Dumbledore continued again.

"Although I have been informed of this by a certain student who wishes to remain anonymous,"

"Ginny," Harry muttered angrily under his breath. Dumbledore chose to ignore the comment and continued as though he had not been interrupted.

"I can't say that there is any actual evidence proving the truth of this." He looked Harry closely in the eye for a moment before continuing. "However, I am going to ask you, as I know that you are a trustworthy pupil."

"But Mr. Dumbledore, please-"

"Ah, ah, ah, Harry, just a moment. I want you to think very carefully before you answer anything. What we're dealing with here, if the situation is in fact true, is a very serious matter, indeed. Not only is it against school rules for a student to date his or her teacher, but it can also become an issue of law-breaking if certain sexual actions have been pursued."

Harry suppressed the desperate urge to gulp nervously, and remained silent while holding what he hoped was a blank expression on his face, as the principle continued.

"I am not making any accusations, but I am saying that if an adult takes part in sexual intercourse with a person under the age of consent, serious penalties can take place. Although the minor will not be punished, the adult can face several years in jail."

Harry made sure to stay as still as possible and kept his breath down to what he hoped was a normal pace.

"So I will ask you two questions. The first is, have you taken part in sexual intercourse with Mr. Malfoy."

He couldn't breathe. One minute he was trying to keep his breathing down to a minimum, and the next he couldn't breathe at all. He was feeling very dizzy, and black spots began popping around the room, randomly. What had he gotten himself into? What had _Draco_ gotten himself into.

What could he say? He couldn't possibly lie outright to the principle of his school, could he? He could lie, yes, but so blatantly? The only idea the brunette could think of was to change the topic slightly.

"Listen, Mr. Dumbledore, I know who told you. It was Ginny, wasn't it?"

"I am not going to say who-"

"It was! I know it was her! But you can't really believe her, now can you? She could be lying for all you know!"

"That is exactly why I am asking you."

Harry remained silent.

"Let me start with a smaller question. Were you and Mr. Malfoy involved in an intimate relationship?" After waiting for a few moments for a reply that he knew would never come, he decided to switch topics briefly to ease up the tenseness of the boy before him. "Very well, then. Now, I understand that you may be worried about what your parents will think…"

_Crap!_ He hadn't even thought about that.

"Have you told them-?"

Dumbledore cut him off with the wave of a hand. "Nothing has been proven yet, and so I did not feel as though it was of a desperate necessity to inform them of what is only a rumor."

"Then what about Draco?"

"Draco?" The bearded man raised a curious eye brow. "Mr. Malfoy, you mean."

"Mr. Dumbledore, please, you can't honestly hold that against me. _Ev_eryone calls him Draco! He said it from the first day. He wanted us all to be like friends and…" The teen stopped, seeing that if he continued, things would only look worse.

"Well, in any case, getting back to Ms. Weasely, if she was indeed the one who brought up the idea that you and Mr. Malfoy were dating – and I'm not saying that she is -, my question is, why would she lie about something so serious?"

Harry shrugged as if at a loss of what to say, but then said, "Well, I don't want to sound mean, but Ginny's just angry because I left her at the dance. She's just trying to get back at me."

"And tell me, Harry, why _did_ you leave her at the dance?"

"I just umm… I wasn't feeling very well. I started to get a headache and I went out for a bit of air and then, I just sort of forgot her and walked around for a bit before going home." His voice was shaking slightly. He hoped with all his might that Dumbledore couldn't tell.

"A curious thing is that one of the teachers told me that he saw Mr. Malfoy walk out just a few moments after you. Did you two see each other?" The elderly man waited calmly for his pupil to answer. _Please don't lie,_ he thought to himself silently. Harry had always been one of his favorite students, but this was a very serious matter. Snape had already informed him that Draco had spoken with Harry after the dance. If Harry lied about seeing the blonde, their secret, if there truly was one, would surely be revealed.

Harry looked down into the shaking hands on his lap and quickly moved his hands so that he was sitting on them. What should he tell his principle? He knew Draco had already been in to speak with him, but what had the blonde told Dumbledore? Draco was a very good liar, but Harry could not say the same about himself. He was much better, instead, at pulling out a semblance of the truth while simply leaving some information out, or blotting it slightly with his own words. Full out lying, however, was not at the top of his most positive talents.

Licking his lips nervously, he made a decision. "Yes, I did see him, but..." He stopped momentarily. He was going to speak slowly and clearly, so that he wouldn't trap himself. "But…we only spoke for a little bit. It was purely coincidental that we both went out at the same time. Then, after speaking for a bit, he mentioned that his shift was over, and we both just left our separate ways. I mean, I didn't want to keep him from what he was doing, after all."

Dumbledore closed his eyes briefly, thinking things through. There was no evidence to prove that the two had actually had sex. Therefore, even if they were dating, the worst that could happen was Draco being fired. While he didn't want to get the blonde teacher into trouble, he also did not want his closest pupil to get too deeply involved in something that he might regret later on. The boy was young, and perhaps he did not know what he was getting himself into.

The bell for lunch suddenly ran loudly, giving both a start.

"Very well, Harry. I simply hope that you are not lying."

Harry nodded quickly and turned, eager to leave as quickly as possible.

"Oh, and by the way, good luck with the game, tonight."

_Oh no._

DHDHDH

He had completely forgotten about the basketball game during all the commotion. That was just one more thing he had to worry about. He did not feel up to playing a game at all - especially with the fact that he would have to deal with all his teammates.

_Wonderful,_ he thought to himself, sarcastically. _Just one more problem to worry about._

His heart began to beat erratically as he walked closer and closer to the cafeteria. Slowly taking a few breaths to calm himself down, he walked in quickly and hurried over to buy his food. Maybe no one would notice him.

No such luck.

The moment he stepped foot into the large room, whispers began to break out, ten times louder than this morning, but he tried his best to ignore them. He tried to avoid their eyes and block out the whispers until someone yelled out, "What a bloody pouf!" which soon inspired others to yell out nasty comments of their own.

He couldn't understand it. People who he had known for several years were all suddenly turning on him for something as trivial as who he was dating. People who he had thought were his friends were now behaving as though they had always been the worst of enemies.

As the ghastly remarks increased, he snapped. He couldn't take it anymore. He hurried through the crowd of people that had surrounded around him, pushing and shoving his way past everyone.

He ran into the boy's bathroom, hoping to God that no one would be there. The voices were still ringing in his head nastily. Everything was going so horribly wrong. If Harry had been but two years older, no one would even care!

_Yeah, right._ Harry's mind scowled, bitterly._ Then they would care because you're dating a guy._

"Argh!" Harry growled out angrily, and walked over to the sink, turning the faucet on and splashing a handful of water over his face. He struggled to calm himself down and even out his breathing. "Oh God," Harry moaned to himself, helplessly. He hid his face in his hands, leaning against the wall. Then, feeling weak, he let himself slowly slide down until he was sitting on the floor and burying his face into his knees, which he hugged tightly against his chest.

"Harry?"

The brunette's head whipped up to reveal Ron standing nervously in the doorway, before he mustered up his courage and walked in all the way, closing the door behind him. "Are you alright?"

"What do you care? I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with me." He snarled out nastily. He didn't know why he was being so mean towards his best friend when it was obvious that he was trying to be nice, but at a time when he felt the whole world was against him, he needed someone to vent out his anger on.

"I guess you should be mad at me," The freckled boy said softly, before taking a few steps closer until he was standing right in front of the brunette. "Listen, Harry, I'm… I mean, I guess I can't exactly say that I'm sorry for getting mad when you told me about…well, you know." He stopped for a moment, allowing Harry to roll his eyes, before continuing. "But I am sorry for how I showed my anger. I still don't think what you're doing is right, but God, Harry, no one deserves to be outcast like that."

"What?" Harry couldn't believe what Ron was saying.

"Look, mate. I don't agree with what you're doing, but it's your life, you know, and no one has the right to tell you what you can and can't do. Not me, and not anyone else out there."

"Wait…so, you're ok with it?"

"Well, no, not exactly. It's just that, I still think it's sort of… well, weird, but hey, you're my best friend, and if that's what you want to do, who am I to stop you, right? I may not understand it, and I may not agree with you on the whole thing, but…oh, don't make me do this! You know I'm bad with the whole emotional thing!" He whined, smiling jokingly. The red-head then stretched out his hand, and Harry grabbed it appreciatively, pulling himself up.

He grinned at Ron, thinking that maybe things wouldn't be so horrible after all just as long as he still had Ron as a friend, when another idea came to mind. "And what about Hermione? What does she think about all this?"

"Well, you know, she was sort of mad because you stole Draco away from her…"

The two boys broke out into a fit of laughter, and Harry felt happier than he had in quite a while. "But seriously speaking, after the first shock at finding out, she was pretty ok with it. I mean, I guess if anything, she was just a little hurt that you didn't tell her."

"Crap. I should have told her instead of you."

"Hey!" Ron protested playfully before sobering up and adding, "I'm sorry that I wasn't as supportive as I should have been Harry. I really do appreciate that you trusted me, though."

Harry shrugged, pushing the matter away.

After a few moments of silence, Ron finally asked, "So, what's going to happen? I heard Dumbledore pulled you in for a talk."

"I don't know." He answered, shaking his head. "They don't have any actual evidence yet, so there's nothing they can do. I just hope Draco's alright."

DHDHDH

Detention flew by quickly, and had actually been good for Harry. It had given him some time to think while sitting quietly in a room filled with a few other students for forty-five minutes. There had, of course, been several students who'd glared at him disgustedly throughout the entire detention, but as they weren't allowed to speak, and Harry had already gotten slightly more used to this from the students around him all day, it was easy enough for him to just ignore them.

What wasn't going to go by so quickly was the basketball game.

As he walked into the locker room, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, it wasn't very difficult at all to see that the majority of his teammates were using all the willpower they had to keep from beating Harry with verbal abuse and perhaps even more. It was only lucky that their coach had made sure to stay in the locker room with them.

His excuse was that he wanted to "stay nearby and give off some good luck," though it was clear to everyone else that he wanted to make sure no one broke out into a fight due to the newly made rumors about Harry, which had quickly spread out to everyone.

As Harry avoided everyone and dressed quietly, Ron came up behind him and whispered, "Just ignore them."

"Yeah," Fred added in as he jumped in front of the brunette.

"They're just being ass holes," George commented, jumping in front of Harry from the other side.

He smiled slightly and murmured, "Thanks, guys."

Just as the twins were going to say something more, Oliver called for their attention and they quickly went over the game plans. Then, it was time for the game to begin.

When the starters all began walking onto the game floor, the coach pulled out a hand in front of Harry and said guiltily, "Go sit down, Harry. I think it would be best if you didn't play just yet." Holding back a glare, Harry turned around, heading for the bench as Coach Rabble called out, "Jeffrey, you're in!"

Harry watched the game play out before him, morosely. They were through the first half of the game, and they were losing by ten points. Still, though, Coach Rabble refused to put him in the game.

As the team players came over for a quick break, Harry could see the angry tenseness pulsing within each of the players, tired and sweaty. They were all breathing heavily, and finally, Ron said, "Coach, I need to take a break. Please, you've got to call me out."

Coach Rabble was feeling very frustrated at the moment, Harry could tell, and with a final sigh, he said, "Alright, fine. Take a seat. Potter… you're in."

Harry jumped up eagerly, ready for the game. His legs were jumpy and full of energy waiting to be unleashed. The whistle blew and the players walked back onto the court. The ball went up in the air, and Fred jumped high and slapped it over to George, who caught it and began dribbling quickly toward the basket.

He shot, missed, and Harry, prepared for anything, jumped up and shot the rebound back up, scoring with a nice _swish._ He was pepped up and ready to play to his fullest potential, but his energy was never given the opportunity of release.

Although he had made a perfect shot, Justin and even Oliver refused to pass him the ball. Fred and George tried when they could, but it wasn't very easy. Justin would jump in front of Harry and steal the ball from him, and when Harry was wide open with the others blocked, Justin and Oliver would try to make impossible shots rather than passing the ball to him.

Finally, frustrated and angry, Harry gave up and just jogged wherever the ball was, without really intending to actually get involved in the game. It was pointless to try otherwise.

There were only two minutes left in the game, and they were down by fourteen points due to Justin and Oliver's bigoted stupidity. Still, they refused to pass the ball to Harry, and the time was quickly ticking away.

One minute left…thirty seconds left…. The game was lost and Harry knew it. They all knew it. His pep and adrenaline has long ago left him and he had to push himself to keep up with the ball for the last remaining seconds.

Then, without any warning at all, Justin through the ball to Harry, who stood at the very center of the court, and shouted out angrily, "Shoot it!" The brunette began dribbling as quickly as he could, hoping to at least make one last shot for the game, but there were only seven seconds left and one boy from the other team was definitely playing a little too closely, making Harry wonder why the referee wasn't calling anything.

The boy kept slapping at his hands while trying to steal the ball. Harry looked around anxiously, hoping to maybe pass it to someone, but no one was open, and Harry was still a pretty long way from the basket with the boy slapping at him.

Frustrated with the referee for not calling any fouls, and with Justin and Oliver's idiocy which had lost them the game, and with the coach for keeping him out of the game for so long, Harry made a stupid attempt and threw the ball as best as he could, in the direction of the net.

For a second, it looked as though it was going to go in, but with a _bonk_, it bounced off the rim and missed, just as the game ended.

"You fucking cock-sucker!"

Harry froze. The crowd, which had momentarily erupted into applause for the other team, froze as well, and a deathly silence broke out across the gym. Harry looked up into the crowd and found his parents' faces, completely shocked. They had no idea. They knew nothing.

All Harry could think about was how disappointed his parents would be when they found out, and how horrible of a way this was to find out. He began to shake slightly, completely overwhelmed. His parents were staring at him, lost and confused, and hurt for their son; angry at Justin for saying such a horrid thing about their perfectly straight son.

If only they knew.

Harry didn't even notice as Ron launched himself at Justin and began beating his fist into his face. He didn't notice the crack of Justin's broken nose, or the angry shouts of Coach Rabble. He didn't notice Fred and George struggle to pull Ron off, or the crowd quickly accumulating around the gory scene.

All he knew was that he had to get out of there. Again, it was as if the oxygen was being sucked out of the air, and he needed to get out; needed to go free lest he die of suffocation.

He ran as quickly as he could, past the crowd; past his parents; through the doors, until he was outside and the night air was blissfully surrounding him, filling his nostrils with oxygen, but he didn't stop. He couldn't.

He kept on running; kept on sucking in as much air as he could get; kept shaking with an overwhelming overload of emotions racing through him rampantly.

All he could think was, _I need to find Draco._

**AN:**

WOW! This was **_super_** long. Definitely the longest chapter of this story. It was also one of the most difficult chapters to write. Not because it was boring, but because there were so many hectic emotions all over the place that I wanted to make sure it came out realistically. I didn't want it to sound fake, and I hope it didn't I worked really hard on this chapter, and I hope you guys liked it. Initially, I was going to stretch this out a bit more and make it into two chapters, but I figured you guys would like it better if I just gave you one nice, long chapter. So, again, I hope you liked it. Please review.

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	18. Enjoying the Moment

Oh…my…God… I passed one thousand reviews! Wahoo! You guys totally rock! Does a little Dance Some of you guys told me not to write the story only for reviews, and I'm not, but getting reviews _does_ feel pretty awesome. :-) And, before I get into the boring explanations, I just want you guys to know that _every single one counts!_ Some of you guys may not think so, and you say so in your reviews and I get like, "oh no!" Every single review is just so awesome! You guys all rock!

Ok, so now that I have let you guys know just how happy I am – which is VERY – I have to clear something up. Argh…lol. Wow, I didn't realize how confusing this story could actually get. I suppose the fact that this really is a very serious matter that's going on now, and has been for a while, is a big part of that, but anyway, onto explanations.

I think it was like two people who brought up the idea that I should have made Harry like eighteen so that it would be legal for him to date Draco; that it was sort of a mistake I made, I guess. But see, here's the thing: I know that eighteen would have made it legal, even seventeen, and that's why I made him sixteen. Therefore, Harry, who has yet to reach the age of consent, is forbidden to Draco, a man of twenty-three. Hence the title, Chasing the Forbidden. :-)

Also, while I was doing some research, I found out that age difference does matter. If say, Harry was sixteen, and Draco was nineteen, although Harry is still a minor and Draco is not, it would be legal because they are within three years of each other. So anyway, yeah, I hope that sort of clears things up a bit. As for the whole parents making it legal if they give permission, I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure that, in America, even if the parents allow it, since it's against the law, the adult can still go to jail.

Oh, and one more thing. One reviewer asked if I was going to make like a whole dramatic scene where they change the law because of the strong emotions between the two. The answer is no. :-P I'm going to stick to the law as best I can and hope that I get it right. I've got to do a bit more research and stuff so that I don't screw up. But if I do, I'm really sorry. Hopefully, I won't, though. Anyway, thanks a lot for the reviewers who brought up those points and questions. It helps me make sure to try and make things clearer in the story.

Now, enough explanations. That was way too long! I just want to give one more great, big **THANK YOU!** To all those who reviewed!

Now, on with the story!

Chapter 18

_**Enjoying the Moment**_

He ran all the way past his house, to where Draco had dropped him off on the night of the dance. His hair pointed out in all directions, his jersey was hanging slightly off his right shoulder, and he was panting furiously, his lungs burning from the excessive work.

Harry stopped, hunching over slightly in fatigue, and lifted his head to look around wonderingly. He squinted his eyes, pushing himself to think harder; trying to remember back to that night.

_Where did the car drive here from? Was it up that hill? Wait…no. Was it? Or did he turn here from around that block?_ But try as he might, Harry could not remember which way led to Draco's house.

Refusing to give up, however, he began to walk up the hill and keep walking until something became familiar, and if not, he'd simply turn back and go around the block. Sooner or later, he'd have to find something familiar… he hoped.

He walked and walked for several blocks, making spontaneous turns when he thought it seemed familiar. The brunette continued journeying further ahead; late into the night, until finally, when the night had grown much older and darker than he could ever remember, he plopped down into a bench left vacant in front of a bus stop, resigned. He had given in to the fact that he was lost.

Tiredly, he turned his head to stare out into space and let his thoughts go free. His eyes roamed over everything in a daze when, suddenly, they stopped on a payphone. If only he knew Draco's phone number…

_Duh!_ He thought, surprising himself at his own level of stupidity. _What else are phone books for!_

He shot up eagerly, and hurriedly walked over to the phone booth, pulling out the phone book and opening the book to look under 'M'. He quickly found Malfoy, and thanked the Gods that Draco had not only an odd first name, but a very odd and unique last name, as well. There was only one number under the name 'Draco Malfoy'.

_Crap._ He thought to himself as he went to dial the number. In his hurry to leave the school, he had left everything in his locker and remained with only his basketball uniform. No money. Again, he let his eyes wander around freely in hopes of an idea, when they soon fell upon an advertisement on the wall of the phone booth.

He smiled, thankful, and dialed '0' for the operator. "Hello, this is the operator," came the tired-sounding voice of a man.

"Oh, umm…yes, hello," Harry mumbled out nervously. He'd never made a call to an operator before. "I'd like to...er…make a collect call."

"Okay, wait a moment, and another operator will come out."

"Oh, okay, thanks," Harry replied, but the man from before had already left. Soon, another voice came out, though this time it was a recording of a woman's voice.

"Please dial the number of your destination, now."

He heard a 'beep' and quickly scrambled to dial in the number, briefly looking down at the book a few times to make sure the number was correct. A short moment passed before Harry was asked to give the name of the person whom he wished to contact. "Draco Malfoy."

Then, after another short moment, the recording continued, "Please state your name after the tone," and another 'beep' sounded.

"Harry Potter," he garbled out, his excitement growing.

He waited silently, not knowing what to expect next. Then, after a moment, an ecstatic smile broke across his face.

"Harry?" He heard Draco's voice, sounding anxious and worried.

"Oh, God! Draco!" Harry exclaimed, relieved to finally hear Draco's voice. "You're alright! I thought- I thought, well, I thought so many things! I didn't know what they did to you and I was so worried! Everything just happened so suddenly and I haven't known what to do! I just-"

"Harry, Harry! Wait, calm down. What's wrong?"

"What do you mean, 'what's wrong'? They know, Draco! That's it! The secret's out!"

"No they don't. They haven't any actual proof. I was brought in for questioning by Dumbeldore, but because he didn't have any actual evidence, all he could do was make me take leave of school for a couple of days until things got sorted out."

"Oh! They brought me in for questioning, too! He told me the same thing – that they didn't have actual proof, yet, but it's obvious, Draco! Everyone knows it's true! And you wouldn't believe the horrible day I've had! It sucked!" Harry added, thankful to have someone to vent out his feelings on. "I don't know what to do! All I can think is that at least Ron's alright with it and-"

"Wait- you told Ron?"

"Draco, that's not the _point_! It wouldn't have even mattered if I'd told him or not, anyway! Everyone knows, already! It got around the whole school and everyone was calling me all these horrid names! When I opened my locker, there were loads of notes in it, and I only opened one, but I'm sure all of them were just as mean!"

"Wait, wait, wait. Harry, you've got to calm down. Where are you? What just happened?"

"I was…." Harry took a breath to try to calm himself down before continuing. "I was at my basketball game and they wouldn't let me play until the second half and even then, I couldn't really play. Then, when Justin finally passed me the ball at the last minute, I missed and we lost the game. So Justin, he called me….he called me a," The brunette had to stop and catch his breath. His throat was tightening up just thinking about the event form before. Rolling his eyes and letting out an angry breath, he tried to keep from crying.

"What did he call you?" came Draco's wary voice.

"He called me a…Ccskr.." was his mumbled reply.

"A what?"

"A ccscker,"

"I'm sorry, Harry, I just can't understand y-"

"A cocksucker! He called me a bloody cocksucker!"

"Oh, Christ. I am so sorry. I know how you must feel, but-"

"No! You don't know! You weren't there! You weren't there! And my parents heard it and they were looking at me so…so…God, you should have seen their faces! You should have been there, Draco, but you weren't! You weren't there! Why weren't you there!"

"Harry, I already told you, Dumbledore-"

"I don't care!" The emerald-eyed boy was sobbing now, huge, watery droplets glazing over his eyes, giving the green shade an even stronger brilliance before breaking forward and cascading down his rosy cheeks in large rivulets. He didn't care about common sense and taking the right precautions. In his mind, all he knew was that he whished Draco had been there to comfort him rather than having to have been alone and walking around aimlessly for hours. "You should have been there! I was all a-alone! And I was so worried about you! I didn't know anything- if you were in jail, if you were fired, if you'd fled! I didn't know anything!"

"I'm sorry. I really am. I couldn't be there, Harry. You have to underst-"

"You could have found a way," the brunette whispered out weakly, the anger from before slowly dissipating, instead being washed away by a new flourish of exhaustion. Draco quickly picked up on this and asked, "Where are your parents?"

"I don't know," He mumbled out dejectedly.

"And how long has it been since you left the game?"

"I don't know," he repeated, his voice growing fainter in his ever-increasing fatigue.

"Where are you?"

"I don't-"

"Harry, you're not helping! Now lift your bloody head up and look the f-…" Draco breathed in quickly, trying to hold back his anger. The brunette youth was always letting his emotions get ahead of him rather than concentrating and paying attention to the more important things, and, while the blonde was used to this and could handle this most times, now was not one of those times. With all the confusion and worry, he just wanted to find Harry before the boy did something stupid. Exhaling slowly, he calmed himself down and began again. "Listen, Harry, you need to get yourself together right now, alright? I understand that you're feeling a lot of hectic emotions going through you, but moping around and sulking isn't going to make them disappear. Now, _please_, look around. What street are you on? What's around you? Are you near a certain store- something that would help me figure out where you are?"

Looking around, Harry mumbled out a few descriptions before Draco exclaimed, "I know where you are! Alright, go back and sit down on that bench you told me about. I'll be over there right away."

Harry hung up and dragged is feet over to the bench, staring at the gray paint, slowly chipping away. Soon it would have to be repainted. _I wonder if that's what happens to people, too. They start to chip away, little by little, until finally, they're too far gone and they just…disappear, replaced by someone new…wait, what?_

He let his head fall back and muttered out, "That doesn't make any sense."

In the distance, he could see a figure walking on the other side of the street. It walked quickly, as if with purpose; eager to reach it's destination. A little closer to where Harry was, he saw another person- a girl. She looked to be around his age. He wondered if her parents knew where she was at this time of night - whatever time it was.

He didn't actually know the time, but it felt late, and the sky had long since gone dark – not exactly the safest place for a teenage girl. Then again, his being a boy didn't change things for him. Being outside was just as unsafe for him as it was for her. While the chances of getting raped were less likely for Harry than for the girl, he was still just as likely to get robbed or beaten by any random drunk as her.

Taken, there weren't very many accidents that occurred in his town, but then again, he wasn't even sure if he was still _in_ his town. This area seemed entirely unfamiliar to him; he had no idea where he was. Suddenly, he began to feel panicky, and pulled up his legs to hug them tight.

Now, everything seemed just a little bit scarier. A small rustle of newspaper littered on the floor would make him jump, the shaking of leaves in the night's wind made his head jerk, sending shivers down his spine. His senses seemed heightened and he became aware of everything around him.

He spent several minutes going close to insane, and when a black car drove up to him, he nearly had a fit before he quickly realized it was Draco's, and jumped out of his seat just as Draco got out of the car. He ran up to Draco and buried himself in the blonde's arms, resting his head in the crook of Draco's neck and breathing in his comforting scent.

"I missed you," Harry whispered quietly.

"I missed you, too."

DHDHDH

After a few moments of hugging, Draco had managed to persuade Harry to let go and get into the car. He had offered to drive him home but the brunette had shook his head hazardously, saying that he wasn't ready to face his parents, yet. While Draco wasn't too keen on taking Harry to his own home, as they were both skating on thin ice as it was already, he couldn't deny the quivering boy before him and, with slight reluctance, Draco drove him to his apartment.

DHDHDH

Draco pulled out his keys and opened the door, letting Harry in first. He then walked in, himself, locking the door before turning to the youth.

"You look like you're about to drop right on the spot," Draco said with a slight smile. "It's past one in the morning. Why don't you take a quick nap and I'll wake you up in a bit so that we can talk and figure a few things out?"

Harry walked over to the blonde slowly, his eyes half-lidded and slightly glazed over. Reaching his hand up, he tugged Draco down by the neck and pulled the blonde into a slow, deep kiss. The older man pulled away slowly, giving the teen a curious look before questioning, "Harry, aren't you tired? I think it would be better if you-"

"Shh," Harry whispered, pressing a finger against Draco's soft, pink lips, before leaning in for another kiss. The blonde kissed back passionately, lovingly; everything was slow-paced and sensual. It was as though they were playing in slow motion.

Harry wasn't sure what he wanted, but he knew that what he was doing felt right and the more he could get of Draco, the better it would be. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but somewhere deep inside, he felt as though this might very well be the last time they got a moment like this to themselves, and he wanted to take full advantage of it. He wanted this night to be just as special as their last night together, and he wanted to remember it forever.

There was no rushing this time. They both took their time, enjoying the feel of the other's lips on their own. Harry began unbuttoning Draco's shirt with one hand, while feeling around his lightly muscled torso with the other. Slowly, he began his way down the blonde's neck just as he had last time. This time, though, he made sure to pay even more attention to every single section of the blonde's porcelain white skin, smooth and soft, eliciting a breathy moan from Draco's lips.

The brunette felt a tug on his jersey and lifted his arms, allowing Draco to lift it over his head and drop it, letting it flutter down to the floor silently.

"Come," Harry whispered, grabbing Draco's wrists and leading him over to the bedroom. He then kicked off his sneakers before laying himself gently onto the bed. There, lying on his back, he pulled down his shorts, looking into Draco's eyes the whole time as he then continued to slide his boxers past his hips and further down his legs at a painstakingly slow pace. His left foot pushed the boxers off the rest of the way, and he lay there waiting quietly for Draco to take him, a hungry look in his eyes.

Draco smiled down at him. The brunette before him was beautiful in every sense of the word. Watching the teen waiting for him in all his naked glory with his member half erect, he walked over to the bed, peeling off the remainder of his clothes, before crawling onto the bed and straddling Harry.

He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss upon the boy's lips. His tongue begged for entrance and dove down into the blissful world of Harry's mouth, exploring freely. The blonde then kissed down Harry's neck, making sure to leave a few love bites on the way down, before his attention was grabbed by the brunette's lovely, pink nipples. He licked slowly, getting a small taste before sucking harder, causing Harry to moan wantonly and hold Draco tighter against him, his nails scraping lightly against the blonde's back.

"Draco," Harry whispered quietly.

The blonde continued his way down, laying kisses as he trailed down lower and lower. He licked at Harry's inner thigh before laying a soft kiss, igniting Harry's fire and causing the teen to buck his hips in need. His breath was uneven by now and he needed Draco's touch; needed the feel of Draco's mouth against him; needed his tongue against him, claiming Harry as his own.

"I love you, Harry," the blonder whispered, before bending his head down to fulfill Harry's desires.

DHDHDH

More moans had escaped their lips, many more kisses had been shared between the two, and touches and gropes had passed through the hands of both as Draco had proceeded to make love to Harry.

Now they both lay awake, with Harry's head resting against Draco's chest, following his breathing pattern, and listening to the blonde's heartbeat. The brunette was in a state of complete peace. The problems still buzzed around in his head, but they didn't seem very important at the moment. What was important was the time he had with Draco right now.

Who knew what was going to happen to them later?

Harry could be outcast by the majority of his classmates for the rest of his high school years, Draco could lose his job, the two might never be able to see each other again, but it didn't matter right now. Dumbledore had even mentioned that Draco could go to jail, but there was nothing he could do about it now, and so, pushing away the problems of later and choosing to enjoy the peaceful, calm happiness of now, he kissed Draco's nipple gently, looked up, and asked slyly, "Ready for another go?"

"Now, how could anyone say no to a face like that?"

DHDHDH

"I love you," Harry said, lying with his lower half between Draco's legs, and his upper half laying on the blonde's torso, Harry's arms folded underneath him so that he could look into Draco's eyes.

"I love you, too."

"I know."

"Ooh, a little cocky now, aren't we?" Draco commented, smiling good-naturedly.

"Only when I'm with you."

The blonde reached over and ran his fingers through Harry's hair.

"So, what do you think is going to happen to us?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Draco replied with a sigh. "A lot of things, I guess. There's always the possibility of me going to jail, but it wouldn't matter. As soon as I came out, I'd come back and find you. You'd be legal by then."

"How long could they put you in jail?"

"I'm not sure, but I think the maximum time is about three years."

"But I don't want you to go to jail, Draco." Harry's voice was barely more than a whisper.

Draco grabbed Harry's chin, gently lifting it up and saying, "Hey, don't worry. I knew what I was getting myself into when I kissed you that very first time. I don't regret anything I've done, alright? They can put me in jail if they want; I don't care. I'll be fine."

Harry gave the blonde a chaste kiss before whispering once again, "I love you. I love you so much; more than anyone I've ever loved. I'll never love anyone as much as you."

"Hey," Draco complained with a chuckle. "You're speaking as though we're never going to see each other again."

"It's just that, you never know. I mean, who knows what's going to happen?"

"Harry, listen to me. Even if the very worst happens, they can't keep me away from you forever. I promise you that no matter what happens, we _will_ be together again. Do you hear me? I promise."

The brunette nodded his head solemnly.

"Oh no," Harry whispered, looking over to the clock on the bedside stand. It read 3:47 a.m. It had been very late to begin with since the moment he'd arrived in the blonde's home, but the realization hadn't actually hit him at the time. Now, however, he could see how large of a problem this could lead to.

"Don't worry about it," Draco said, placing a kiss on Harry's forehead. "Go to sleep. We'll worry about it in the morning."

"But Draco-"

"Don't worry. Just go to sleep, Harry. I love you," he said, giving Harry another kiss.

The brunette smiled and gave a tired sigh before laying his head back down on Draco's chest to go to sleep. He knew what Draco was thinking; he knew why there was no point in worrying over the time; worrying over being discovered.

They were already discovered.

There was no point in trying to cover it up. As soon as Harry's parents found out, things would probably go to hell, they'd all have to go to court, and… well, what would happen from there was still a mystery to Harry, but again, he reminded himself, there was no point in worrying about it now.

He would worry about it when the time came. For now, all he could do was let himself fall into a blissful sleep, nestled in Draco's warm, loving embrace.

Tomorrow was another day.

**AN:**

I suppose you could call this a filler. I just wanted to have Harry and Draco together, really showing their love one more time before all hell breaks loose- I even tried to make the semi-sex scene a little more detailed. I mean, the last two chapters have been pretty hectic with Harry worrying about his life, but now all the worry is going to be concentrated specifically on Draco. He _is_ the one at risk of going to jail after all. I'm not saying if he will go to jail or not yet simply because I really just don't know. It's going to be really difficult for me because, as corny as it sounds, I sort of fell in love with Draco while writing this chapter. It's sort of weird, but I sort of discovered who Draco really is in this chapter. This whole story, I've been concentrating on Harry, but I really thought about Draco for this chapter, and had him open himself up to Harry totally, you know? I don't know- maybe I just sound crazy, but I really feel down and sad right now.

I don't want Draco to go to jail because I see how much he cares for Harry, so I'll just have to see what I decide to do in the end. Cross your fingers and pray for my muse to give this story a happy ending. So umm, I know that this chapter wasn't action-packed, but I still hope you guys enjoyed it. I thought the angst might be getting to be a bit much, so I just stopped and slowed down for this chapter. Oh, and just a quick note: Harry seemed to take a bit more initiative, I think, with the semi-sex scene in this chapter because since he's already done it before, there's really nothing for him to be all that nervous or scared about. I hope it played out well, and I also hope you liked it. Please review!

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	19. The Arrest

Hi, everyone! Guess what! I'm learning sign language! It's really simple, actually; I already learned a whole bunch of phrases! Though, of course, the first two I learned were "Harry has sex with Draco", and "I want to have sex with Harry and Draco." :-P I'm bad, I know. Lol

How is that relevant to the story? It's not. I just felt like telling you guys a little about something I'm doing. Anyway, umm… no notes really. I think I've pretty much cleared things up since I haven't received any new questions regarding laws and whatnot. Oh, but something I do want to address is that a few people asked about a sequel.

Initially, my immediate answer was no, because I thought, 'What else could I possibly add to the story?' But with a bit of thinking and a little twist to my original ending of the story, a sequel would definitely be possible. It wouldn't be in any way immediate, however, since I'm currently busy with school, but still, there is a huge MAYBE in the workings. I've always been highly against sequels, but if you guys were to continue reading the story, then maybe I could. And also, I'd make it in a way so that you wouldn't have had to have read Chasing the Forbidden to follow along. But remember, this is only a MAYBE.

Anyhow, a very big thank you to all those who reviewed! You guys rock!

Now, onto the story:

Chapter 19

_**The Arrest**_

The blonde man sat at his kitchen counter quietly, deep in thought as he idly sipped at his coffee. He had woken up to Harry's beautiful face earlier this morning; his students beautiful face. Rolling his eyes irately, he scoffed to himself, hating the idea.

Harry was his student and a minor; therefore, forbidden to him. But why?

_Don't be stupid, _he thought to himself angrily. He knew exactly why. He himself was against the idea of an older person taking advantage of a young child. The blonde teacher had always looked down upon that sort of relationship. That is, of course, until Harry.

With Harry, it was different. They were merely a few seven years apart in age and he simply couldn't agree with the law in this situation. Yes, Harry was a minor while he was an adult, but it was only by a few measly years. Had Harry been but one year older, it would have been legal. Then again, Draco _was_ still his teacher.

He sighed to himself, distraught.

Watching another adult dating a minor, it had always been easy to look at them condescendingly, believing that the child had been tricked into dating the adult through sneaky seduction, but now, actually experiencing it for himself, he could see how different it truly was.

He did not, in any way, believe that he had forced Harry to date him through physical or psychological demand of any kind. The blonde truly believed that Harry had been just as attracted to him, as he had been to the young brunette.

Still, the blonde had to admit to himself that this whole situation was, for the most part, his fault. He was the first to pursue Harry. He doubted that Harry would have ever made anything of his attraction to Draco, otherwise.

All the time he had gone after Harry, he'd known it was illegal, and yet, he hadn't cared. He'd simply pushed away that small fact and ignored what could happen. He'd found himself drawn to the boy, literally from the moment he laid eyes on him. Through careful action, he'd believed their relationship would never be discovered. He was wrong, of course.

Damn his motto of do first; think later. He'd always been like this, ever since he was a little boy. He'd always gone after what he'd wanted no matter what. As a child, he always figured that he could simply take what he wanted first, and then work out everything else, later. This, of course, had always led him into trouble. When he began college, he began to try and take things more seriously. He wanted to make something of himself and acquire a good career. Still, he could never completely get rid of his childish, mischievous needs.

When in front of Harry, he tried his best to act like the adult he was expected to be, but inside, he was still the same mischievous, trouble-seeking little boy he'd always been. And just as he was still childishly naughty, he was still childishly doubtful and worried at times.

Like now, for example. Admittedly, Harry had many things to worry about as he was still younger than Draco and had to deal with his parents, school, and this entire fiasco following him around for the rest of his life. However, Draco couldn't exactly say that Harry had it worse than him. Draco could be facing multiple years of jail. His insides clenched nervously, and at times, he was overwhelmed to the point of exhaustion. Sometimes, it almost seemed as though it wasn't worth it. Almost.

But when thinking about it, Harry was always worth it. What started out as a bit of playful fun and curiosity had bloomed into full grown love and adoration for the boy. He sincerely hoped that Harry felt just as strongly for him. Draco had meant it when he'd promised that, if sent to jail, he would come back for Harry. The only question was: would Harry still want him?

He hoped so. The thought of spending years in jail wasn't exactly the most comforting of thoughts. If he was going without a cause, it would have all been pointless. However, having Harry waiting for him when he finally got out would be something to look forward to; something to keep him going.

Another mournful sigh escaped his lips. Jail was definitely going to be scary for him. He nearly shivered. The blonde could only imagine how horrid it would be. Then, of course, there was always the worry of starting over once he got out. Who knew what was going to happen then? Lord knows there was no way he would be able to get another job in teaching.

Suddenly, he heard a slight creaking sound and turned with a start.

DHDHDH

Harry woke up feeling completely content. Last night had been glorious. It had been absolutely perfect. Had it really happened? It was one of those things that felt too good to be true. It felt so ethereal. He wanted to experience it again; to be devoured in a cavern of glorious emotion and feeling.

He turned to look at Draco and kiss him awake. He wanted to hug the blonde, hold him tightly, and never let go. But as he shifted to face the other side of the bed, Draco was nowhere to be found. He jumped into a sitting position, immediately. He was suddenly enveloped in a whirl of horrid thoughts.

What if Draco had been taken and arrested while he'd been asleep? How could Harry have let that happen? _Stupid Harry!_ He scolded himself angrily. Where was Draco now? How could Harry have allowed himself to forget all the problems that still lay before them?

He quickly got out of the bed, preparing to do…well, something. He had to find out what had happened to Draco and where he could have possibly gone. The brunette quickly shoved on his boxers and basketball uniform, before sticking his feet in his sneakers, not even bothering with the socks. He walked to the door, his mind going haywire.

_He's probably in jail right now! Getting harassed by cops or worse, bully inmates! He could be getting beat up right now or getting interrogated by rough detectives or…or he could be sitting down in the kitchen, drinking some coffee, _Harry thought to himself lamely as he peaked through the slightly open door.

His relief at Draco's safety was short-lived, though, as he caught site of the blonde's grimacing face. He looked to be in deep thought of something troubling. _Well, duh,_ Harry thought to himself as he looked on. With all the troubles that could still occur, who _would_n't be worried? Harry was the only one who was being idiotic enough to forget about such serious matters. He just couldn't help himself. Of course the youth knew how serious things were, but he couldn't help the oncoming want to just ignore all the problems in hopes that they might simply disappear on their own.

They wouldn't, however, and Draco, Harry knew, would never lose sight of that. Still, Draco tried very hard to keep his emotions under control so as not to worry Harry. The brunette continued to stare silently, taking advantage of the moment. Harry would likely never again see how grieved Draco was. It wasn't that the brunette took pleasure in the blonde's sadness, but Draco was now open in a way that he most often was not.

Trying to get a better look, Harry pushed the door open a bit more, but it creaked and suddenly, Draco's head snapped up to look in his direction.

"I was…I was just wondering where you went." Harry stuttered.

Draco's face immediately broke out into a smile in the hopes of hiding his worry. The younger of the two gave an inward sigh before putting on a small little smile of his own. Neither of the two held a real smile, and both knew it, but to pretend ignorance would give them both just a little bit of relief from the problems that were very soon to come.

"Come here," Draco said, gesturing for Harry to come closer. The brunette did just that and ended up seating himself comfortably onto the blonde's lap and planting a firm kiss upon his smiling lips. "Mmm. Want some breakfast?" he asked, once the teen had pulled away.

"No, I'm not feeling particularly hungry."

"I can imagine why."

"What am I supposed to do now, Draco? I mean, do I go back home, or do I-"

"Of course you go back home!" Draco exclaimed. "Can you imagine how worried your parents must be?"

"I know, but I mean, what are they going to say to me? What am _I_ going to say to _them_?"

The blonde shrugged. "The truth?"

"Are you insane!"

"Well, not the complete truth. You could tell them that you stayed at my house since we're as good as caught, anyway. You just don't have to elaborate on the events that took place here." He explained with a playful smile.

"Oh, and such lovely events they were," Harry replied, nipping at Draco's ear.

"Oh, no you don't. I've got to get you home."

"What? No! I don't want to go. At least, not yet."

"Harry, the longer you stay, the worse it's going to be."

"I know, but…" The brunette looked down at the floor with a sigh.

"You should go home."

"Yeah, I should."

The two looked at each other sadly and, in an attempt to soothe the brunette youth, Draco leaned over and gave him a long, slow kiss. Harry kissed back lovingly, not wanting it to end, but finally, Draco pulled back, placed a chaste kiss on the brunette's forehead, and gently slid him off his lap. "It's time to go."

DHDHDH

Lily and James Potter had been pulled aside by the school principle, Mr. Dumbledore, for a long talk. The long-bearded man had explained how Ginny had told them about witnessing Harry and Draco kissing on the night of the dance – though, as a code of honor, he had left out the red-head's name – and how the rumors had quickly spread throughout the school.

The principle, when seeing the horrified looks on their faces, had been forced to remind them that nothing was for certain just yet. For all he knew, these rumors were just that: rumors, and nothing more.

The two parents, filled with hectic thoughts racing throughout their minds, had come home to… no one. Harry was not there. They waited for hours before finally calling the police, who said that they could do nothing until forty-eight hours had passed. Lily had gone into a fit and yelled her lungs at them until James had had to pull his sobbing wife away from the phone.

The next morning found the two sitting nervously on the couch, tired-looking and worried. They had already received the call from the school notifying them that Harry had not showed up. Ron, Hermione, and a few other friends had been brought in for questioning to see if any of them knew where the youngest Potter resided, but all replied negatively.

Finally, at exactly ten twenty-three, the doorbell rang. Both parents jumped up immediately and ran over to the open the door. There, on their doorsteps, stood a nervous-looking Harry Potter, twiddling with his fingers and refusing to look up.

"Oh, Harry!" His mother exclaimed, and both older Potters engulfed their son into a tight hug, pulling him in and closing the door behind him. Lily Potter smothered him with kisses all over his face.

"Uh…I missed you guys, too…?" Then, just like that, the two parents snapped, and the anger came back full force.

"Where we you last night!" James Potter asked angrily.

"You had us sick and worried!" Lily exclaimed.

"Well, I… er…" Had Draco been teasing when he'd told Harry to tell them the truth? The brunette wasn't sure.

"Harry, listen to me. Your principle told us about the rumors."

The brunette's eyes went wide. _Oh no,_ he thought to himself.

"You know that we'll always love you, son, right? No matter what." James said.

The teen remained silent, not knowing what to say. His parents had just said it. Rumors. Only rumors. Maybe not all was lost just yet after all.

"Harry," Lily began, looking very strained. "You're father and I have been thinking, and… if you are gay, it's alright with us."

"Yes," James added in. "And if you…if you are in love with your teacher… I suppose we could handle that…though, you would, of course, have to stop the relationship for now and wait until you were older."

"Really?" Harry asked, not believing his ears. His parents were actually okay with it! He couldn't believe it! Everything was going to work out just fine. He could tell Draco and they would be together in a little more than a month when Harry turned seventeen. Sure, Draco would lose his job, but at least he wouldn't be going to jail.

Harry nearly strangled his father with a giant bear hug, before turning to his mother and doing the same. Everything seemed as though it was going to be alright, and then it happened.

Lily, still curious, asked again where Harry had stayed the night yesterday. Had he stayed with Ron or Hermione without the parents finding out? Was there another friend? Had he possibly spent the night sleeping on a bench in the middle of no where? Lily had nearly let out a sob at that last thought.

Seeing as to how his parents had already taken everything else so easily, Harry put on a smile and decided to tell them the truth. "I stayed with Draco."

Silence.

"You what!" Lily exclaimed once she had regained use of her vocal cords.

"I…stayed with Draco…?"

James, oblivious to what took place last night, was irritated slightly by the idea of Harry spending the night at his teacher's house, but Lily- she caught on right away. Her eyes went wide with realization. She suddenly thought back to the night of the dance. Harry had supposedly been spotted kissing his teacher that night. Then, Harry had not come home until late. To make things worse, he had come back ruffled and disheveled; practically oozing of sex.

Lily had, of course, been angry that night, thinking he'd had sex with some random girl, but now…now she knew better. It had not been some random girl to have sex with him, no- it had been Draco! And she'd bet his teacher probably had sex with him the previous night, as well!

"He had sex with you, didn't he?" Lily's voice was unbelieving, and her eyes pleaded with her son to prove her wrong.

"I-I…" That had caught him off guard. He was unsure of how to answer. She looked as though she wanted his answer to be no, but just a minute ago, she had been accepting of his relationship with Draco. Was he supposed to tell her the truth? Could he?

He turned to look at his father who, at Lily's comment, had paled about a thousand shades whiter. The teen gulped nervously, feeling all his doubts come back in a surging wave. "Well, you see…I…me and Draco…we… "

"You did!" Lily could tell when her son was guilty of something, and he was most definitely guilty. "I could handle it if you were gay, and I could handle it if you were taking part in a small relationship with your teacher, but this…this…. He raped you!"

"No, he didn't! I wanted it!"

"You don't know what you're talking about! You're just a child and he's a fully grown adult!"

"Mother, I am sixteen years old, and I can do whatever I bloody well please!"

"Oh, God…. He's already warped your mind…."

"What are you talking about! You're insane!" Harry's mind was going haywire and his mother looked as though she were about to faint. Suddenly, a terrible anger took over her and she walked over and picked up the phone.

"He is not going to get away with this. He molested my baby!"

"Mum, what are you doing?" Harry asked, voice barely above a whisper. He was not ready to believe what his mind was registering. Then, she dialed three numbers; only three numbers.

"NO!" Harry went to run over and pull the phone away from his mother when James stepped in, grabbing a tight hold of his son. "Let go of me!"

The teen kicked and shoved and tried to get out of his father's strong grip, but try as he might, he simply couldn't. Someone on the other end picked up and his mother began, sobbing, "Someone has sexually molested my son! He's been raped!"

Harry yelled out, "No! It's not true! Mum, stop it! Please, stop!" He broke out into sobs as his mother continued.

"His name is Draco Malfoy...he's my son's teacher at school and…"

"NO! PLEASE, STOP! PLEASE!" Harry's screams sliced through the air like a knife, but his mother ignored them and continued to sob into the phone while his father kept his tight hold on him. He fell onto the floor, sobbing louder than he could ever remember. "Dad! P-please! You've _got_ to let me go. _Please!_"

"I'm sorry," James whispered, so quietly Harry had only just barely heard him. "I'm sorry, but your mother has to do this."

"No, she doesn't. Please, dad, _please!_"

"I'm sorry," James repeated shaking his head. "I'm sorry."

DHDHDH

A few hours later found Draco Malfoy sitting anxiously in his kitchen, thinking over many things. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, pulling him out of his thoughts. Apprehensively, he walked over to the door and looked through the little hole to see who it was.

The police.

To run, or not to run, that was the true question. He wasn't going to run; he didn't want to. They would catch him sooner or later, and besides, if he ran, he would never be able to come back for Harry. The blonde wasn't sure how the police had been notified, but they had, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He opened the door and was greeted by a stern voice asking, "Draco Malfoy?"

"Yes."

The other officer grabbed a hold of Draco and began placing handcuffs on him as the first continued to speak. "You are under arrest under the charges of statutory rape of Harry James Potter…"

DHDHDH

**AN:**

The title was pretty blunt; the chapter was pretty short. I know, but hey, they can't all be the same length, now can they? Alright, so I don't know if you guys like the chapter or not. I know it seems sort of crazy and rushed and like, "Harry is an idiot! He never should have told his parents anything!" and "Lily is a bitch! I never thought she'd be like that!" but um…yeah, that's how I decided things should go, I guess. I don't have any excuse except that I was just thinking about the story and my muse was inspired and told me that this was the way I should go. If you'd like some explanations, though, here they are:

**Why did Harry tell them?** Harry told them because he was so desperate for acceptance at this point, that at the thought that his parents truly did accept him, he decided to just let loose and trust them, assuming that they would accept anything.

**Why is Lily being so…bitch-like?** I'm not doing this to make Lily seem evil. I really like Lily as a character. However, mother instincts kicked in. In the chapter, she didn't blame Harry; she blamed it all on Draco. It was Draco who had sex with Harry. It was Draco who raped Harry. It was Draco who forced Harry into something he didn't honestly want, and it was Draco who warped Harry's mind. That is, of course, in her mind. She's just feeling like her only child has been taken advantage of and can't really think of anything else. Hope that makes sense.

Anyway, the chapter was way bizarre and a little rushed, but hey, I had three days to write out four chapters, since I'm going to school, so…yeah. I hope the chapter passed as ok, at least.

Please review!

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	20. The Trial

Hello to all! Ok, so I'm writing this out before posting the previous chapter since I have to get this all done before I go off to school, so I'm not sure if I got reviews for the last chapter, but I hope I did! P And if I did, thank you to all the reviews! You guys rock! Snaps for you! D

Okay, I can't really make any explanations or anything because, as previously mentioned, I've no idea what your comments are. Rest assured, though, I _will_ be reading all the reviews, so they still really count! They'll make me all happy and fluffy inside and maybe even give me inspiration to write another story later on. )

So anyway, onto the story!

Chapter 20

_**The Trial**_

"In recent news, a possible teacher/student relationship has been under question in the small town of Talsburry. A recently hired English teacher of their local high school was arrested for the possible statutory rape of one of his sixteen year-old students. However, sufficient evidence has not yet been discovered.

"There will be a trial held in court on the seventh of June to determine the final verdict and possible punishment of the twenty-three year-old English teacher.

"And now, onto Kathy with the weather forecast."

Harry stared at the television lifelessly. He couldn't believe news of his relationship with Draco was already on tv. He'd even read an article on it in the newspaper this morning. In all honesty, it was not all the big of a deal. Why couldn't people see that?

He could picture the hundreds and maybe even thousands of people who either read the article on him and Draco or saw something about them on the news. To every else, they were just one more pair of law-breakers, nothing to worry about. It irked Harry to no end. No one else understood just how important this was to him.

They didn't care about Harry's well-being. All they cared about was putting one more person in jail so that they could comfort themselves with the thought that if more people were going to jail, the government must be doing _some_thing to make the world a better place.

The brunette nearly growled with frustration.

Knowing that neither of his parents were home was the only thought that comforted the frustrated young teen. His parents had actually planned to take the day off work and stay with him, but after three days of absolutely no conversation at all, they'd figured out there was really no point in staying.

Harry refused to forgive his mother for her spur of the moment actions, no matter how good her intentions supposedly were. As for his father, he couldn't really say that his father had done anything wrong except hold him back. The young brunette couldn't bring himself to be truly angry with his father because he knew that if the decision had been totally up to James, no matter how much he disliked Draco, he would not have called the police.

With mothers, things were always different. They always let the strong emotions they felt for their children get in the way of all rational thought. Sometimes it was good, and sometimes it wasn't. In this particular case, it most definitely wasn't.

James, Harry knew, would have been angry and probably yelled at Harry for doing what he thought was a 'stupid thing' and then, once all the anger had been let out, finally sat down and talked things out. The police would have been the last thing on his mind.

In any case, he didn't have to deal with his parents right now. The only thing that had almost kept Lily from going to work was the fear that Harry might run away, but after some thinking, she realized that he wouldn't. Both parents knew, just as well as Harry, himself, that the youngest of the Potters would not run away.

Honestly, where would he go? There was no where. He couldn't possibly stay with Ron – not with Ginny for a sister. She would, no doubt, be checking up in his room every once in a while to make sure he wasn't hiding anything, or, better yet, any_one_.

Hermione, although very kind and, according to Ron, supportive of his relationship with Draco, was a definite no. She, who was always trying to do the right thing, would make Harry go back home immediately, talking about the worry his parents would be going through.

Aside from that, there was really no one else. Harry didn't feel comfortable enough to go to anyone else's house. Ron and Hermione were his two closest friends and there was no way he would dare to impose on anyone else. Hiding a runaway was definitely a lot of hard work, and definitely very risky.

People like Dean and Seamus, Neville, Luna, and others were most definitely kind, but they weren't close enough to trust with such a heavy burden. Other than that, there was no way Harry was stupid enough to pack up and leave on his own.

He didn't have a particularly large sum of money saved up for an unexpected leave, or anything else to help him survive on his own. Besides that, he simply didn't want to leave. He wanted to finish his high school education and go on to college; he wanted to stay with his friends; he wanted to be here when Draco got out, whether after being deemed cleared of all charges, or after a few years in jail.

Harry was suddenly pulled out of his train of thoughts as he heard the doorbell ring. Who could be ringing the doorbell for a visit at three in the afternoon? His parents hadn't told him to expect any guests.

He opened the door to be immediately enveloped in a tight embrace from Hermione, and greeted by Ron with a delicate but happy, "Hey, Harry."

"Harry, you didn't go to school on Friday _or_ today!" Hermione exclaimed once she'd finally let go. Harry closed the door and walked back into the living room before setting himself down upon the couch to answer.

"Yeah, I know. School ends this week, anyway, so Dumbledore said I didn't have to come for the remainder of the school year, thanks to this whole mess I'm in. Only, my mum has to go in and pick up my report card."

"Yeah," Ron said, just to say something.

"You know, it's quite astonishing how the news got a hold of your relationship with Draco so quickly. Say, how did they find out about it, anyway?" Hermione asked, curiously.

"Long story," Harry said with a sigh.

"Oh, come on. Can you honestly say you have anything better to do?" Ron asked with a teasing smile.

"Alright, fine." Harry said, giving in quite easily. "I got home on Friday morning after spending the night at Draco's." Here, Harry paused for a moment to note his friends' reactions. Both faces were blank, simply waiting for more. A little more comfortable, Harry continued. "I'd been really angry after the incident at the game and I just ran to the first place I could think of, which just happened to be Draco's house.

"Anyway, I came home Friday morning and my mum and dad were all worried, I suppose. They hugged me and the whole bit when they first saw me, and then they broke out into an interrogation of where I'd been the night before. I mean, they made sure to tell me that they were okay with the idea of me being gay and even the whole dating my teacher thing as long as I put it on hold for a while, until I got older.

"So I thought they'd be, well, you know, alright with anything, and so I told them the truth. I'd stayed at Draco's house. Then, my mum went insane. She accused me of…well, anyway, she just went crazy and called the cops, saying that Draco had, well… that he'd just done some stuff and… yeah… so I guess it wasn't that long of a story."

Harry had avoided outright stating his mother's accusations of his having had sex with Draco and, more importantly, that she was right. Hermione and Ron both knew, and Harry knew they knew, but the two said nothing more of it, which Harry was eternally grateful for.

"Sorry about that, mate," Ron said, sound entirely sincere.

"Don't be. It's not like you told my mom to call the cops or anything."

"I guess."

The three friends sat quietly for a few moments, simply taking things in and mulling them over.

"You know," Harry began suddenly. "I can't help but feel that all this is my fault. I mean, if I'd just been a little more careful, none of this would have happened. The school year was almost over and-"

"Harry, no way! This is _not _your fault," Hermione interjected. "Draco's a smart guy. I'm sure he knew exactly what he was getting himself into the whole time. Besides, maybe the school year might have been over, but that doesn't mean your parents couldn't have found out on their own. Your mum's not one to let things get past her for very long. She would have found out sooner or later."

"No, I know Hermione. It's just that feeling, though. Even though I _know_ it's not totally my fault doesn't mean I can't _feel_ like it is."

Again, silence swept over the three before Hermione, unable to stand the sorrowful state Harry was in asked jokingly, "So, what's it like to make out with a God like Draco?"

"Hey!" Ron exclaimed, pouting more prominently than ever before.

Harry laughed and answered, "Don't worry, Ron. I'm sure you're just as good. Would you like me to find out?" The brunette slowly began to lean in, not really intending to do anything.

"Oh gross! _No_, thank you! You can stay with your little fantasies, Hermione."

And Hermione and Harry both fell into a huge fit of laughter at Ron's overly scrunched up face.

DHDHDH

"Move it," a gruff-looking jailer growled out, shoving past Draco. Jail was worse than he'd imagined. He'd spent the first night alone and to himself, and the first morning, he hadn't eaten a thing. By the second full day, however, he was starving and prepared to eat whatever pathetic excuse for food it was that they gave him.

It was hard, though.

He tried his best to stay out of the way and ignore as many people as he could. When news of the reason he was in here got out to the other inmates, things had become ten times worse. They bothered and picked on him, and some were so horribly disgusted they threatened to kill him if he ever tried something more perverted in here.

"Killing is one thing, but raping some little kid… that's just disgusting. I hope you burn in hell." One had said. _What idiots, _Draco thought to himself.

Others threatened him for his sexuality with disgusting insinuations that made it very hard for Draco to sleep at night. At any moment, he was expecting one of them to jump out and rape him. It was horrible.

The only thing that kept him going was that his trial date was in little more than a week and he would get to see Harry again. Who knew? Maybe he wouldn't have to stay in jail, either.

DHDHDH

On Tuesday night, James and Lily finally sat down with Harry for a talk.

"The trial is next Wednesday, Harry. We want you to testify." Lily said.

Harry thought for a moment. He didn't want to testify for obvious reasons. It could turn out horribly wrong and he could be the one who landed Draco in jail. But, then again, he _did_ want to see Draco. What if the blonde ended up in jail anyway and Harry never got to see him again?

To go, or not to go? Harry debated the thought in his mind for a bit. If he went, he would get to see Draco again, though chances were that he could make things worse for the blonde. If he didn't go, he couldn't make things worse, but he might not see the blonde again for a long time, anyway.

Then again, Harry could probably help things go in Draco's favor by explaining how everything they did together was entirely of his own free will. He could tell them the truth about how much he loved Draco and how he wanted everything just as much as Draco. The brunette could explain that Draco never forced himself on Harry in any way whatsoever.

That could definitely work.

"Fine." Harry said stiffly, still angry with Lily. He wasn't feeling particularly angry at this point, but he didn't want to let his mother think he had forgiven her. She didn't deserve that little bit of pleasure, in his opinion. This was, after all, entirely her fault.

Lily looked slightly put out by his tone of voice and said softly, "Honey, I know you're angry with me, but I only did what was right. I would have accepted a relationship with him, but he had sex with you, and that was wrong. He should have known better. If he'd truly loved you, he would have waited."

"Mum, _I'm_ the one who wanted it! _I_ pushed for it!"

"That's just what he wants you to think, sweetie. He's played with your mind to make you-"

"No, he hasn't!" Harry exclaimed.

"Oh, Harry," Lily said, placing her hand gently upon Harry's shoulder, but the brunette quickly shoved it off, making Lily wince, terribly hurt. She held back a sob before quickly getting up and walking away.

James, who had said nothing throughout the small conversation, remained sitting by Harry's side. "Harry, you've got to forgive your mother sooner or later. She only did this for your safety."

"For my safety, Dad? For my safety! I wanted this! Draco is not a bad person; I _love_ him! When everyone at school turned me away, who was there for me? Draco! And when I thought nothing would ever go right, who was there to make me feel better? Draco! And did you know that I didn't want to come back? The morning I came back after the game, I didn't want to. I just wanted to stay with Draco. I thought that maybe, maybe I could just run away; Draco and I could both just disappear together.

"But do you know why I didn't? Because of Draco! _Draco_ made me come back. He knew you guys were probably worried and he didn't want to worry you anymore. _He_ made me come back home and take responsibility for my actions, Dad! In _all_ of this, Draco has always been pushing me to keep going and do the right thing!"

The passion was glowing within Harry's emerald eyes, and James could do nothing but stare in astonishment. There was so much that he didn't know, and he wished to speak to his son more thoroughly about this, but was now the time? Could he possibly understand more of his son's passionate feelings?

"Harry, I-"

"No, Dad. Just forget it. You and Mum don't care about me. All you guys care about is having the perfect, model son, so you can blame everything on Draco when everything that's happened was really because of me. _I _chose to make the first move when we first kissed! _I _chose to keep the relationship going! And _I_ chose to bloody have sex with him!

"Oh, just forget it! You and Mum will never understand."

And with that, he walked away, leaving a very sad James Potter to sit alone, trying to think things through for his poor, heart-broken son.

DHDHDH

"God, we were so close! The more I think about it, the angrier I get! Damn it, why'd Ginny have to open her big mouth?"

Harry sat on his bed, whining over his relationship with Draco as he'd been doing the past few days, while Ron and Hermione listened like the good friends they were. At the last comment, however, Ron had turned a guilty shade of red and muttered, "Sorry about that. I promise Ginny's not getting away with it, though. Me and the twins are shunning her like the plague. Even Mum is a little sore with her; you know how much my mum likes you. And when Ginny woke up with worms all over her and this funky gunk in her hair, courtesy of the twins, Mum just said she had no idea who could have possibly done it and that it would be best if she stopped making a big deal out of it and just take a shower."

"Oh, my God. They didn't!" Hermione exclaimed unbelievingly.

Harry, however, had been brought to hysterics and couldn't stop the laughter.

"She even had to cut her hair since some of the gunk wouldn't come out. It's _really_ short now. She looks like some weird sort of pumpkin or something. I'd enjoy it except for the fact that she won't stop crying about it, literally! First it was just whining; now it's full out sobbing! 'Oh my hair, my beautiful hair!'" Ron mimicked in a high-pitched voice.

"Well, serves her right!" Harry replied.

"Yeah, and Justin didn't get away with it, either. The coach pulled him off the team for next year. He said that a team is supposed to work together and defend their own members no matter what."

"I guess." Harry said, thinking of how Coach Rabble hadn't been thinking that on the night of the game. Honestly, _he'd_ been the one to keep him out of the game for the whole first half of the game.

DHDHDH

Days passed slower than snails in a three-mile race. Harry couldn't eat; couldn't sleep; couldn't even think straight. He just wanted the date of the trial to come so that he could see Draco again. He just wanted to be close to the blonde; to at least be in the same room with the blonde.

Harry missed him so much.

Everything was going so horribly. Lily had even brought up the idea of possibly moving in order to get away from this whole ordeal and start again. James, however, for whatever reason, had disagreed strongly on that idea, trying to make lame excuses every now and then.

"I was looking into those star thingys and they said that a move would be a terrible idea."

"No you didn't," Lily would argue.

"Yu-huh!"

"Oh really, where? Show me."

"Uh…I can't."

"And why not?"

"Because…uh…only the true eye can see what lies behind."

"Behind what?"

"Behind, uh… you know. The thing."

Lily would roll her eyes and walk away.

Then James would try again.

"Aha! We can't move because the ghosts of this house wish for us to stay."

And the whole thing would start again.

It was sad. James, though he kept true to himself in these moments, was, for the most part, not as happy and playful as he used to be. For some reason, ever since their talk, he had been much more melancholy. The jokes were not as frequent, and even when he was being playful, like when he tried to convince his mother not to move, it wasn't as genuine as it would have been a few weeks ago.

Sometimes, Harry would even hear the jokes completely stop, and James would talk to Lily seriously, voicing his opinion against moving. Perhaps James only joked around in front of Harry to keep up the act, while turning serious when with his mother. Who knew?

DHDHDH

Two large, mahogany oak doors.

Where had they come from? One minute, Harry was moping around, waiting for the day when he would get to see Draco again, and the next, here he was, standing before the doors that would lead him into the court, where the love of his life was waiting for him.

He gulped nervously.

Suddenly, he just wanted to turn around and walk away. He couldn't do it. He couldn't possibly face all those people in there. Oh Lord, what would happen once he stepped past those doors? Maybe he _could_ just turn around and walk away. Just turn around and-

"Oi, Sonny, are you going in or what?" A guard asked, standing a few feet away.

"Oh, er…"

"The court is about to come into session. Either you go in now, or you don't go at all."

"Right," Harry replied, and slowly, he pushed past the doors.

DHDHDH

**AN:**

Ok, short, again. There are two more chapters after this. The final chapter, and the epilogue, though it's probably not the type of epilogue you have all been expecting. Then again, maybe it is. I don't know. :-P

Anyway, I hope you like it. By the way, I have finally made my decision of whether or not Draco will go to jail, but my lips are sealed. So I suppose you can keep guessing in your reviews. Maybe you'll be right. :-)

Anywho, I hope you liked the chapter though, again, it was a little bit of a filler, in my opinion. Now, I have only a few hours to type up the last two chapters, so I have to end this AN now.

Please review!

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	21. Over

Hiya, guys and gals! Again, I'm writing this ahead of time, so I don't know if I got any reviews just yet, but I hope I did, and if I did, Thank you! You guys rock!

Oh, NOTE! Ok, so I'm a bit of an idiot with the whole court room thing, so I don't know who's supposed to go first. Is it the defense, or the prosecution? Oh well, it's too late now. I'm making the prosecution go first in my story, and for any people out there who major in law or something and take it as an offense, I'm sorry! I really am. I'll make sure that next time I write a story, I either make it totally fantasy so that everything can be what I want it to be, or I'll get all my facts set straight before writing it out.

Also, I know, the dates are totally screwed up. Again, that's just me being totally disorganized. The dates most probably don't add up, and I'm sorry. Please don't pay too much attention to that.

Now, I'd say enjoy the final chapter, but it's really not, since there's the epilogue, and I'm only calling it the epilogue because A: I don't like even numbers, so I'd rather end with an odd number of chapters: twenty-one, and B: because it sort of gives you a picture of what's going to happen later on. So anyway, enjoy this chapter, but do not fear, for this is still one more to come after this!

Now, onto the story!

Chapter 21

**_Over_**

Draco could hardly breathe. He was so nervous. Sitting next to his lawyer; looking up at the judge – this was much more nerve-wracking than he'd imagined. What would happen now?

He had waited for this day; for the chance to see Harry again, but with that, he had also dreaded this day, knowing the horrible possibilities. Now it was here, and he just wished he could put everything on pause.

His lawyer, a kind women with chestnut brown hair, smiled at him encouragingly and, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder said, "Relax, Draco. I'm going to work my very hardest to get you the best deal you can possibly get."

DHDHDH

Blonde! The moment Harry had walked in, the first thing he'd looked for was Draco's platinum blonde hair, and there it was, just a few yards before him, sitting in the front. He stared on, nervous and excited and worried all at the same time.

Then, as if sensing Harry's eyes on him, the blonde turned around and the two shared a loving smile, lighting Harry's features up. The brunette wanted to run up into Draco's warm embrace right there and then, but he knew he couldn't, so he just kept staring and smiling, playing out the scene in his head, where he grabbed Draco and the two of them ran away together, happily ever after.

And then he got pushed from behind. Lily told him to keep moving, and they went to the first row of seats, Harry glaring daggers at her the whole way.

He knew some of the people who were going to testify. Himself, Ginny, both his parents. Ron had been asked, but he'd refused, which Harry was grateful for. He suspected Snape would be more than happy to testify, but he wasn't sure. Suddenly, he heard a _bang!_ And the court had come into session. _Wow,_ he thought to himself. _The judges really bang those hammer things?_ To him, it had always seemed like something that only happened in movies.

The judge said a few words and before Harry knew it, Ginny was walking up to the stand, setting her hand on the bible, and swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help her God. His eyes burned with anger, but he remained silent because really, what else could he do?

"Miss Weasley," the prosecution lawyer began. "Is it true that on the fourteenth of May, you and Mr. Potter attended your high school spring dance together?"

"Yes."

"And can you tell me what happened on that night?"

Harry closed his eyes tight, not wanting to believe this was really happening.

"Well, we were having a good time, at first. We danced a bit and he got me a drink. Then, he kissed me." At this she blushed, which, in Harry's opinion, was totally for dramatics. "But suddenly, it was like, I don't even know. He just pulled away and said he needed some air. And then he just left."

"Mm-hmm. And was this the last of Mr. Potter that you saw that night?"

"No. Naturally, I was curious about why he was acting so weird, so after a minute of waiting, I went outside to see where he'd gone off to and if he was alright."

"And what did you see when you found him?"

"I saw him and Draco kissing."

A few gasps were heard throughout the courtroom, but the lawyer continued, nevertheless.

"I see. Now, you refer to Mr. Malfoy by his first name, but is he not your teacher?"

"Yes, but he told everyone the first day to just call him by his first name."

"Alright. So, basically, he liked to develop a very close relationship with his students."

"Your honor, I object! He is putting words into her mouth." Draco's lawyer protested.

"Sustained. Mr. Chesly, please reword your statement."

"Miss Weasley, would you say that Draco liked to have a close relationship with his students?"

"Yes."

"Good. No further questions."

"Ms. Sutton, have you any questions for Miss. Weasley?"

"Yes," and she immediately stood up and walked over to Ginny with determination in each stride. "Miss Weasley, you say that Mr. Malfoy liked to create a close connection with his students, correct?" At Ginny's nod, she continued. "Before the whole incident with Mr. Potter, would you say that Mr. Malfoy was one of your more preferred teachers?"

"…." She paused for a moment, cursing the fact that she was under oath. "Yes," she ground out slowly.

"Yes, and did you ever forget to maybe, say, do your homework?"

"No, I always did Draco's homework."

"How about in any other class? Did you ever forge to do your homework?"

"I…yes."

"So, wouldn't you agree with the statement that creating a close and informal connection with one's students makes the students more eager to do well in the class?"

"…maybe."

"That's not a suitable answer."

"Fine, yes. Okay?"

The lady smiled at Ginny's attitude and continued. "So wouldn't you agree that any well-educated teacher could possibly do the same thing in hopes of urging their students to do well?"

"Yes."

"Fantastic. Now, going back to the night of the dance, you said you saw them kissing, correct?"

"Yes, I did."

"And then what did you do?"

"I, well, I turned around and walked away. I didn't want to see that. It was disgusting."

"Hmm… you left in the middle of the two kissing. So, in that case, it could, indeed, be possible that after you left, they simply stopped kissing and both went their separate ways?"

"…yes."

"No further questions, your honor."

Harry smiled. He liked Draco's lawyer. She definitely had spunk.

Next was Snape.

Mr. Chesly walked up to him after the oath and asked, "Would you say Mr. Malfoy had a particular interest in Mr. Potter?"

"Yes."

"How so?"

"Well, at first, he asked me about Mr. Potter. He asked me what I knew about him. Also, the night of the dance, I saw Mr. Malfoy walk out just moments after Mr. Potter. He never came back."

"Did you question Mr. Malfoy about this?"

"Yes."

"And what did he tell you?"

"He said that his shift had ended and so after speaking with the boy, he had simply left home."

"And what time did his shift end? Do you know?

"Eight o'clock."

"Hmm. No further questions your honor."

"Ms. Sutton?"

The chestnut-headed woman shook her head no.

"I would, however, like to call the school principle, Mr. Dumbledore, to the stand."

The bearded old man walked up to the stand and took his oath.

"Mr. Dumbledore, when hiring someone, you look deeply into their profile and resume correct? Would you say that, when hiring Mr. Malfoy, he was a nice guy?"

"Objection! His personality at first impression is irrelevant. Anyone can pretend to be something they're not."

"Sustained."

"Fine. No further questions." That had ruined her whole angle on the principle.

"Mr. Chesly?"

"I would like to call Lily Potter to the stand."

She took her oath and sat herself down.

"Mrs. Potter, what do you remember of the night of the dance?"

"Well, I'd asked Harry to come home by eleven, but he didn't arrive home that night until after midnight."

"Hmm… so from the time he left the dance at around eight o'clock until after midnight when he returned home, he was simply gone. Tell me, Mrs. Potter, did you notice anything about his … state of being."

"Your honor, this is irrelevant. His state of being could have been from running home quickly to make it on time!"

"Overruled. Answer the question, Mrs. Potter."

"He was disheveled and very flushed."

"Interesting. Now, did you happen to notice any change in Harry at all? His personality; his moods?"

"He was most definitely very depressed."

"He told you this?"

"Well, he was too depressed to say it outright, but one afternoon when I went up to his room, he broke into tears while hugging me and then he went to sleep for the rest of the afternoon and didn't wake up until morning."

Harry felt like killing himself. Who knew that a moment of vulnerability with his mother would be turned against him?

"No further questions."

Ms. Sutton, filled with growing rage, stood to question Lily before even being called.

"Can you honestly say that your son has never been depressed before? That he has never cried before?"

"Well, no, but-"

"And at the age of sixteen, wouldn't you say that many teenage kids are depressed? He could have been crying for a number of reasons, unless, of course, he told you specifically what he was crying about?"

"I…no, he didn't tell me."

"I didn't think so."

_Yes!_ Harry thought to himself. _Sutton: one, Chesly: zero!_

Ms. Sutton continued to glare angrily at Lily until the judge finally inquired, "Any more questions, Ms. Sutton?"

"No, your honor. I'd now like to call upon James Potter."

After the oath had been taken, she questioned, "Mr. Potter, you would agree that your son is a smart boy, right; cable of making good decisions?"

"Objection! The mind can be persuaded!"

"Overruled, Mr. Chesly. You may answer."

"Yes, I've always had good faith in his decisions."

"Don't you think that if anything horrible was happening- anything he didn't want, he would tell you?"

"Of course."

"Has he spoken to you of his relationship with Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes."

"And what has he said?"

"He's in love with him, and he tells me that Mr. Malfoy loves him as well. Actually, he ran away the other night and didn't want to come back, but Mr. Malfoy was the one who told him to come. He didn't want us to worry. He wanted Harry to do the right thing."

"So would I be correct in saying that this was not a one-sided relationship and that your son took part in it just as willingly as my client?"

"Yes."

She nodded her head and sat down.

Mr. Chesly jumped and asked, "You said he ran away. Where to?"

_Crap._ Was Harry's only thought.

"…He ran away to Mr. Malfoy's house."

"And how long was he there?"

"I don't know."

"Fine, no further questions, but I would like to call Harry Potter to the stand."

He sucked in a breath of air. He knew it would be coming, but he didn't know how unprepared he would feel.

Slowly, he stood and went to the stand. He made his oath, mimicking the previous few people, before sitting down nervously. He looked over at Draco, anxious, and the blonde smiled back at him reassuringly. Harry gave back a weak smile before turning to Mr. Chesly when he rudely cleared his throat for the brunette's attention.

"Let's get right down to the point, shall we, Mr. Potter? Did you, or did you not take part in sexual intercourse with Mr. Malfoy?" Harry froze and looked over to Draco for guidance, but there was nothing the blonde could tell him.

"Your honor, don't you think this question is unfair…?"

"No, take your seat Ms. Sutton. Answer the question, Mr. Potter."

"Remember, you're under oath." The man added with a smirk.

"That is quite enough, Mr. Chesly. I think it is obvious to the boy that he is under oath."

"…yes," came Harry's small voice.

"Well, now that we have that cleared up, let's continue. Did you realize that this was illegal, at the time?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"I said yes, didn't I?"

"Very well, then. Now, would you consider Draco a worthy and admirable person?"

"Of course."

"So isn't it possible that he could have possibly persuaded you into doing something that you, at first, did not want to do? Isn't it possible that he talked you into something that you would have otherwise not done; something that you otherwise would have looked down upon?"

"Well, he's a smart guy, but-"

"Answer the question, Mr. Potter. Isn't it possible that he could have influenced you into doing something you otherwise would not have done?"

"No." was Harry's cold reply.

"But you just said he was smart and admirable, yes?"

"I did, but that doesn't mean I don't have a mind of my own. He can't make me do something I don't want to do. And anyway, he wouldn't want to. He respects me and my decisions and-"

"That is not relevant to my question."

Glaring, he continued. "I knew what consequences would come from this. I'm not some stupid little kid. I chose to be in a relationship with Draco of my own free will. And Ginny over there tried to blackmail me into being her boyfriend so that she wouldn't tell anyone, but did I do it? No." There were gasps throughout the courtroom, but he continued. "If I don't want to do something, there is no one who can make me do it."

Heated and angry, Mr. Chesly muttered out, "No further questions."

Smiling, Ms. Sutton stood up to question Harry.

"Mr. Potter, I can see that you feel very passionately for Mr. Malfoy, yes?"

"I love him."

"And does he love you?"

"Objection, your honor! How is he to know? Mr. Malfoy could have influenced him-"

"Overruled, Mr. Chesly. Continue."

"Yes, he does."

"Was there ever a moment when Mr. Malfoy was, perhaps, harsh with you in any way?"

"No."

"Did he ever force himself on you?"

"No. Every time we went to do something, even as small as a kiss, he would always ask me if it was what I wanted and if I was sure. He would never do something I wasn't comfortable with."

"So then you agreed to every act of sexual contact shared between the two of you."

"Yes, wholeheartedly."

"Then why, Mr. Potter, were you always so depressed, as your mother claims?"

"Because of everyone else. Draco's the only one who makes me feel happier than I've ever felt before. I mean, I have friends and stuff, but I've never been in love or anything like that. And now, just because he's a little older than me, everyone looks down upon it like it's the biggest sin in the world! My birthday is in just a little more than a month, and had I been even just that one year older, none of this would have been happening.

"Maybe he would have gotten fired, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as big is this. I mean, what's the difference? How much older and wiser and mature could I possibly get between now and July? It doesn't make any sense! I love Draco, and just because I'm a few weeks short of the age of consent shouldn't mean anything!"

Ms. Sutton smiled, admiring Harry's passion, and turned to the judge saying, "No further questions, your honor."

DHDHDH

Harry stood, waiting nervously. The jury was deciding on the final verdict. He was so nervous he could feel his insides twisting into a million different turns. What would their final decision be?

Suddenly, it was time to announce the final decision as the jury walked back in. All of a sudden, he thought he couldn't breathe. All he could do was live for the answer and pray that they came bearing good news.

He thought he would die of suffocation as the person final spoke.

"On the charge of statutory rape, we find the defendant…guilty."

There were some pitying moans in the back, but for Harry, there was nothing. He couldn't believe it. No. It wasn't possible. Hadn't they listened to a single thing he'd said up there? He loved Draco! He loved him! It wasn't Draco's fault! Harry wanted it! He'd wanted all of it!

The judge then spoke and said, "Draco Malfoy, you have been sentence to fourteen months in prison."

"No!" Harry shouted aloud, jumping out of his seat and running to Draco. "Draco, no!"

He wanted to grab a hold of the blonde and never let go; pack him up in a little bag and keep Draco with him forever, but the guards where already grabbing him, pulling him away.

The tears began to flow from Harry's eyes and Draco's own eyes were looking dangerously watery. "Harry, don't worry. It's going to be alright. Remember what I told you!" He began yelling as the guards pulled him farther away and behind a door. "I'll come back for you! I love you!"

"No!" Harry screamed, sobbing as another guard came out and stopped him from moving forward. "No! Let go of me! Let go!" But the guard would not budge, and there was nothing he could do. And so, slumping into one of the benches, he dropped his head into his hands and cried his heart out.

It was over.

DHDHDH

**AN:**

NOOOO! I'm so evil! I know, and I'm sorry, but come on. More than half of you had to be expecting this, right? Plus, it's the only way I could have possibly ended it well. Ending it all happy and free would have been totally unreal. It would have made this story pointless. This way, it's not pointless. Love is a powerful thing, but it can't overcome anything. It can last forever, yes, but it does not have unlimited power as some may think. So anyway, I know it's a sad ending and stuff, but you've got to read the final chapter; the epilogue!

I'm telling you, whether or not you hated this ending, you've GOT to read the epilogue. I'm pretty sure everyone will love the epilogue. It's bittersweet and so it goes both ways for whichever way you wanted the story to end. Happy or sad. Trust me. **READ THE EPILOGUE!**

Okay, well, hope you at least sort of liked this chapter. And sorry if the whole court scene was horrendous. I have no idea how a real one works. Anyway, please review!

xoxo Spideria xoxo


	22. Epilogue

sob

This is the end. Crap. Man, you guys, this story has been the coolest to write of all my stories and I just had so much fun with it! I really got into it and I hope you guys did, too. You guys are, after all, the ones who make it fun so fun to write. When I saw that you guys liked it, I got more fueled to write. :-)

Well, I guess it's time for the long-awaited and long-dreaded end.

Here it goes.

**_Epilogue_**

Harry stood at the top of the staircase, looking down at the living room where numerous items were already packed up into boxes. It was a warm and sunny Friday afternoon, but the brunette felt anything but warm and sunny inside.

His father had eventually lost the battle against Lily, and they were scheduled to move Sunday morning. Both Harry's parents had yet to end their jobs, having given early notice. They were to end on Saturday, their final day.

He couldn't believe it.

All that he had known; all _whom_ he had known, were going to be but a distant memory now. They were moving to America, and oh, the horror. _Damn the Americans, _Harry thought to himself bitterly. He didn't really have anything against the Americans. Truth be told, he'd always planned on visiting the supposed "Country of Freedom" some day when he was older, but never did he want to live there permanently.

Why on Earth his mother felt that they had to move so horribly far away just to "get away and start anew", Harry would never know, but she did, and there was nothing he could do. It was only the middle of July, and so, he was still technically underage.

Again, the law was coming around to bite him in the ass.

He'd said his good-byes to most of his friends by now and spent as much time out in the town, making sure to remember it as well as he could, but it wasn't enough. Draco was still here; Draco was still a part of his life.

Perhaps there was still a way to be with Draco, and maybe there wasn't, but he at least wanted to see him one last time before he left for good. And so, while his mother had gone out for a few more boxes to pack things up in later that Friday evening, Harry had confronted his father in private.

"Dad?" It was the first word he had ushered to either of his parents since the day of the trial, thirteen days ago.

"Yes, Harry?"

"I want to see Draco."

"What?" James was shocked at the sudden and random pang of reality shooting him in the face. He had thought, or hoped, rather, that perhaps Harry would let himself forget about his school teacher and move on. It seemed that was not going to be the case.

"I want to see Draco, and you can take me."

"Harry, what are you talking about?"

"Dad, please. We're leaving on Sunday morning and never coming back. I just want to see him one last time. Please." Harry's eyes were pleading with the older brunette much more strongly than his voice, which had, by the end, finished with a soft whisper.

"Even, if I did, when could we possibly-"

"Tomorrow morning. Mum will be at work and she'll assume that you will be, too. Just call in and tell them you can't do the last day, and then take me to see Draco. Please. You can even stop and pick up your last paycheck on the way."

James, whether seeing no way out, or not wanting to find a way out, succumbed to Harry's pleading and nodded the affirmative. He would take Harry to see Draco.

DHDHDHDH

The next morning, Harry woke up with his nerves working. The teen was filled with excitement; he was going to see Draco today! He jumped out of bed and quickly walked into the shower to clean up and get ready for the day.

When he'd finished with all his morning preparations, he looked over to the clock to see that it was nine thirty. His mother had already left to work by now, and his father was probably waiting for him downstairs in the living room.

Hurrying down the steps eagerly, taking them two at a time, he walked in to find… no one. Where was James? Had the older brunette lied to Harry? Had he left to work and simply abandoned his word?

Just then, however, as Harry's head began to fill with hectic crazy thoughts, as it often did, there was a jingling of keys at the door, and James Potter walked in, a small smile setting itself upon his face as he saw Harry waiting for him.

"I thought since you weren't awake yet, I'd just pick up my check earlier so that we could go straight to the… to see Draco."

"Oh," Harry replied, putting on a little smile of his own. "Thanks." He made no comment on James's little slipup. Harry hadn't been able to say the word 'jail' since _that _day, either.

James nodded his head, and the two headed back out the door and into the car to pay a visit to one Draco Malfoy.

DHDHDH

When they arrived at the prison, James had had to sign several forms permitting Harry to speak with Draco. Harry signed something as well, though he didn't pay attention to what. All he cared about was that he was going to see Draco.

When they finally finished with all the formalities, Harry stepped into a room with a small piece of paper folded in his hand. James stayed behind, deciding it would be best if Harry could speak with Draco in private. Well, as private as it could possibly be with other visitors, as well.

It was like something right out of a movie - a long glass wall going down the entire length of the room and dividing it into two halves. One side held prisoners while the other side held…well, what could a person call those outside of prison? Were they not prisoners as well – held against the right to do as they pleased simply to stay out of the other side of the glass wall? Harry shook his head. He didn't care for such thoughts right now.

All he cared about was seeing Draco.

A guard led him into a seat and then, a few moments later, Draco walked in from the other side. The blonde's lips stretched into a smile as he saw Harry. The brunette noted that Draco looked slightly skinnier, with a thin shadow of blue hiding beneath his eyes. He looked tired.

The blonde picked up the phone on his side, and Harry took the hint to do the same. He never thought he would actually be doing this. Again, it seemed like something out of a movie.

"Harry," Draco said into the phone. "How did you get here?"

"I convinced my dad to bring me here."

"That's great. We can talk through visits every once in a while."

"…Not really." Harry's voice was mournful.

"Why not?"

"Draco, I love you." Harry said with a burst of passion running through his veins. He never imagined saying good bye would be this hard.

"I love you too, Harry. What's wrong?" The blonde asked, worried.

"I'm moving."

"What?" The blonde's brows scrunched together disbelievingly.

"My mum, she thought it would be best to move away and try and forget about all this."

"Where are you going?"

"…America."

"She can't _do_ that!" Draco exclaimed, anger flushing his cheeks red.

"It's too late. All the furniture is packed and everything. We're leaving tomorrow morning." Harry replied solemnly.

"But Harry-"

"I managed to get the address, though." Harry said showing Draco the note he held in his hand. "You don't have to come or anything. I mean, I know it's a long way, I just thought that maybe…"

"Of course I want your address. I already told you, Harry. As soon as I get out, I'm going to come back for you. Your moving away doesn't change anything."

Harry gave a weak smile, relieved that Draco was willing to go through so much to continue his relationship with him.

"Give the note to the guard right there before you leave, alright? Tell him to give it to me." The blonde said, pointing to a guard off to the brunette's left.

Harry nodded his head.

There was silence for a moment where the two simply looked at one another, thinking.

"God, I'm going to miss you so much, Harry."

"I'm going to miss you, too…. You know, maybe I could write to you."

"But it wouldn't be the same."

"No, it wouldn't." Harry agreed.

After another moment, Harry sighed, "Wow…fourteen months."

"You mean thirteen months and two weeks. Maybe even less if they let me out early on good behavior." Draco corrected, smiling reassuringly. When Harry didn't respond, he added, "Don't be so sad, Harry. We'll see each other again. I promise. Maybe when I get out I'll pick you up and we'll run away together."

A small, sad smile slithered through Harry's lips, and he wondered if Draco's words would really come true.

Suddenly, James, looking nervously at his watch, cleared his throat loudly. Lily wasn't working the full day; she would be home soon.

"I guess I have to go now."

"I guess so." Draco replied, at a loss of what else to say. Nothing he could say would honestly make the situation any better.

"I love you." Harry finally whispered, and he pressed his hand against the glass wall instinctually.

The blonde pressed his hand against Harry's behind the barrier of the glass wall. It was almost as if he could feel Harry; almost as if they were truly together once again. His hand burned with a thrilling sensation; he never wanted to break out of this prison more than he did right at that very moment. Then, he could be with Harry, now and forever.

But he couldn't do this, he knew. Never once pulling his hand away from the glass, he looked up, and both pairs of eyes met.

Silver crashed into Emerald, and Emerald shot into Silver.

The two held their gaze for a long time before Harry broke it, looking back down at their nearly touching hands, wishing to feel Draco's touch once again. The blonde's eyes were drawn to the same spot before slowly floating back up.

And as their eyes met once more, a lone tear fell down Harry's now rosy cheek before he whispered his final words.

"Good-bye."

**AN:**

Wow. That's it. The end. I almost can't believe it. Takes in deep breath and exhales I screwed up really badly on the ending of my last story, so I hope I didn't do a replay on this story. Please let me know if the ending was good or not. I really hope it was. Also, since I'm a grammar freak, for the ending, when I said that Harry was saying his last words, and then he only said, "Good-bye" I know that technically, its one compound word, but "his final words" sounded better than "his final word". So please don't let that mistake stop you from reviewing:-P

Anyway, I just want to thank all of you guys so very, very much for sticking with me throughout the entire story. It's been a really, long time. Almost a year. I hope you guys enjoyed reading the story just as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Well, this is my Good-bye as well, for now.

xoxo Spideria xoxo


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